Need You Now
by xxxXXxEllexXXxxx
Summary: Sequel to Need You More Than Ever. Everything seems to be going perfectly for the gang, now juniors at UCLA, however when the girls get an unexpected visitor, who brings them unwanted drama, will that all change? In an instant.
1. Chapter 1

Need You Now

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, well I finally got around to finishing one of my stories, and I have decided to start writing the sequel for Need You More Than Ever, so here it is. Please read and tell me what you thought of it!**

**Chapter 1**

Rushing home from her last class of the day, junior at UCLA Gabriella Montez had to grin when from halfway down the corridor to her apartment, she could see the door wide open, as well as hear her two best friends Taylor and Sharpay bickering over what colour the main room was going to be painted, with her brother jumping in with suggestions every now and again, usually being yelled at to shut up.

"Are they fighting again?" A voice asked from beside her and Gabriella turned around with a grin to find her other best friend Kelsi standing next to her, her mouth open in shock, as she to held tightly onto the books that she had just been using to complete her research.

"What else?" Gabriella answered, with a roll of her eyes and the two friends burst into laughter, Gabriella squealing in surprise when she felt to strong arms suddenly wrap around her waist.

"Hey baby girl," a voice husked in her ear and she grinned once more, turning around to greet her fiancée Troy Bolton with a kiss.

"Hello to you too," She grinned before pulling away slightly and hitting him, "Don't scare me like that again, I didn't know who you were!" she scolded and he chuckled slightly, pulling her back in to kiss him again as beside them, Kelsi let out a groan, causing the couple to spring apart and look at her, laughter dancing in their eyes.

"What's up Kels?" Troy laughed as the small brunette looked up at him.

"I'm currently stuck between a rock and a hard place," she replied and the couple looked at each other, their brows furrowing in confusion. "You two being the rock, if I stay out here I'm going to have to watch you guys make out, again," she added and both Troy and Gabriella blushed, "and the hard place being in there, if I go in there, I'm either going to be killed, or I'm going to have to play mediator," Kelsi's point was suddenly reinforced when a bright pink vanity case suddenly went flying out of the front door, closely followed by a science book and screaming from both Sharpay and Taylor.

"If we promise not to make out, can we set up camp out here for the night?" Gabriella questioned, an innocent expression on her face making both Kelsi and Troy laugh, which only turned hysterical as Chad stalked out of the apartment, looking subtly dejected, with pink glitter spread from his hair down to his t-shirt.

"This right here," Chad started pointing to the glitter, "This isn't even remotely funny." When he added the last part, Troy, Kelsi and Gabriella couldn't help but crack up into hysterical laughter once more, especially at his straight face and tone of voice.

Gabriella was the first to recover and headed straight for Chad, wrapping him in a big hug, "Awww big brother did the mean girls get you?" She asked and Chad just nodded his head while Troy rolled on the floor, still unable to stop himself from laughing, and Kelsi was using the wall as her support. "What exactly happened?" She enquired, unable to keep the smile from her face as she gently reached up and wiped some of the glitter from his.

"Well they were fighting and everything, over what colour to paint the front room by the way," both Gabriella and Kelsi groaned, the same argument had been raging since they moved into the new apartment two weeks ago now, it was a step up from their old one, and meant that the girls could all have their own room. "Well they started to throw things and I know how much you guys hate it when you have a messy apartment, so I tried to intervene and stop them, so Sharpay dumped a jar of her pink glitter over my head and yelled at me to get out," Chad finished with another pout and sunk down the wall to sit next to his best friend, who was still trying to get his laughter under control.

The two girls looked at each other and shook their heads, before Gabriella sunk down in between Troy and Chad, and Kelsi took Chad's other side. "If there's one thing that we've learnt from living with those two Chad…" Kelsi trailed off and looked at Gabriella who grinned.

"Never get in the way of their domestics," Gabriella finished with a laugh, as the lift doors pinged open once again and Ryan, Jason and Zeke stepped out, looking confused as to why their friends were all sat outside the apartment, rather then inside, were there was actually chairs. Their confusion was short lived however, when another shriek from Sharpay was swiftly followed by a teddy bear being lobbed out of the front door.

Seeing which teddy bear it was, Troy gulped and looked towards Gabriella, who had started to grow red with rage. "THAT'S IT!" She suddenly yelled, picking up the teddy bear and stalking into the room, Kelsi hot on her heels, desperate to keep Gabriella calm.

The guys all stood a safe distance outside of the apartment, listening to their girlfriends yell at each other, until Gabriella's voice entered the mix.

"QUIET!" She roared and instantly the other three were shushed so much that the guys decided to peek around the side of the door, to make sure that no one was dead. "Now that I have your attention," Gabriella continued on sweetly, "we are painting the main room cream again, not pink and not purple, me and Kelsi have already decided that and when we moved in together in freshman year, we decided that majority rules. Just because we have moved apartments and grown two years older does not mean that we change those rules, are we clear?" Gabriella asked, sounding like a stern mother as Kelsi suppressed a grin and Taylor and Sharpay just nodded meekly, murmuring a "yes Gabby" each.

Gabriella then giggled and held her arms out, making sure that the four girls took equal part in the four-way hug, each laughing at how stupid they could get when they were stressed, due to moving and end of year exams.

"Is it safe to come in yet?" Ryan asked timidly from the doorway and the girls turned around, each bursting into more laughter as they saw their boyfriends/fiancée/best friends' heads hovering one on top of the other around the corner of the door.

"Yeah it's fine," Sharpay chuckled, wrapping one arm around Taylor's shoulders, "Come on in and get settled guys, Taylor and I will go and get the snacks and I do believe that it's Boo's week to choose the movie," Sharpay finished by grinning at Gabriella who nodded and motioned for everyone else to come in and get settled in the main room, while Taylor and Sharpay headed for the kitchen and Gabriella herself headed for their massive DVD collection.

Even though they had been out of high school for three years now, the gang still had their weekly movie night every Friday, like clockwork. Only now it would only differ between either the guys' or the girls' apartments, not all of their parents' homes.

The guys all groaned and the girls squealed when they saw Gabriella's choice of movie, Footloose.

"Ella not again please not again," Troy whined, wrapping his arms around her middle as she sat between his legs, fully stretched out on the sofa, a bowl of popcorn sat on her lap for the couple to share.

"Troy Bolton, if I remember correctly the last movie you picked was Die Hard, again," Kelsi said with attitude and all of the rest of the girls rolled their eyes in agreement, before telling the guys to shut up and watch the film.

"Kevin Bacon is so hot is this movie," Taylor mumbled and all of the girls nodded in agreement from where they were sat with their boyfriends.

Troy and Gabriella occupied one of the sofas, with Taylor and Chad on the other, both sat in the same positions, although Gabriella would usually end up wriggling herself so that she and Troy were lying down, her head rested on his chest.

Kelsi and Jason would take the floor at the foot of Troy and Gabriella's sofa and Kelsi would lie covered in a comforter, with her head rested in Jason's lap. Ryan would take the arm chair by himself, having decided that he would lay off dating for a while after finding his last girlfriend cheating on him, not that he ever brought her to one of the gangs movie nights anyway. Lastly, Sharpay and Zeke would lie full length in the middle of the room, using a barricade of pillows to keep their heads up, although Sharpay's head always ended up resting on Zeke's shoulder anyway.

A sudden knock on the door caused the whole gang to groan and Gabriella laughed telling them that she would get it, even though she had to fight off Troy's hands, just to stand up.

Gabriella's beaming smile quickly fell though, and confusion replaced it as she opened the front door to see who the mystery guest was. Drinking in the person's appearance, she finally managed to utter a single word, "Dad…"

**Well guys, there was the first chapter, please tell me what you thought and if you think that I should continue with it!**


	2. Chapter 2

Need You Now

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, thanks so much for all of your reviews, glad that you liked the first chapter, anyway, here's chapter 2, please read and review.**

**Chapter 2**

"Dad," Gabriella breathed out again, her eyes widening in shock at the grinning man that was standing in front of her.

"Hi angel," Mike Montez whispered to his only daughter, before reaching in for a hug. Gabriella fell into his arms, before realising all of the hurt and pain that he'd put her through over the past four years, and abruptly pushed him off again, glaring at him.

"You're dead," she said bluntly, still glaring at him as the smile fell from his face and seriousness took over his features, as he studied his little girl, taking in all of the changes that had occurred to her appearance since he had last seen her seven years ago, of course his wife had shown him pictures when he had been on leave, but Gabriella herself had never been there in the flesh, still angered that her father had lied to her when he promised that he would never enlist again.

Her hair was slightly shorter, now reaching to just below her chest, whereas when he had last seen her, her hair had reached all the way down past her waist, her bouncing curls were still there though, as she glared at him, the hair pulled back of her face with two simple slides around the back of her head. He watched her carefully, noting that she also seemed to wear less colours now, stood before him now in black skinny jeans, a black baby doll top and a black and white horizontally striped jacket, the sleeves rolled up to her jut below her elbows, showing him all of the many bracelets that aligned both of her wrists, **(picture in profile)** those that knew Gabriella closely, mainly just the gang, the Bolton's and Chad and Gabriella's parents, knew that Gabriella had taken to wearing many different bracelets on a daily basis by this point, to attempt to cover over the tiny scars that were left over from when she had tried to slit her wrists and Chad had saved her.

Gabriella's defiant glare only increased when he said nothing and studied her instead. "What the hell are you doing here?" She growled at him through gritted teeth, and Mike Montez was shocked to here his daughter talk to him with so much menace in her voice.

His head snapped up, and his own brown eyes locked with Gabriella's as he launched into full parent mode, "Don't you dare talk to your father like that ever Gabriella Anne Montez!" He yelled at her, Gabriella looking momentarily startled, before bursting into harsh laughter.

"I already have a father," she managed to say, once her laughter had died out, "And you most certainly are not him, you may be my father biologically, but you are not my real father, and for your information, it's Gabriella Anne Danforth-Montez now, not Gabriella Anne Montez," she spat at him, still fuming over the fact that he thought that after all these years he could just waltz into her life and become her father figure once more, when for the past four years, she had had the perfect father, who was always there for her, unlike her own flesh and blood one, in Jake Danforth, the man who Gabriella had started to call Dad well over three and a half years ago now.

"Oh, so your Mother got remarried then did she?" Mike asked quietly, his eyes not leaving his daughters face, as he watched her features become distraught and saddened at the slight mention of her Mother.

Gabriella gently shook her head, her eyes shining with tears, "No Mr Montez," Mike cringed when she called him that and not Dad, "she never got remarried, she died. Killed herself actually, shot herself straight through the head while I was watching," Mike gasped and tears started to form in his own eyes as he watched his daughter struggle to retell her story, "But that was only after she and her boyfriend made my life hell for six weeks," suddenly there was anger in Gabriella's voice again, "She blamed me for your death, so she started to take it all out on me, after getting viciously drunk on a daily freaking basis, and then leaving me to tidy up her mess!" Gabriella screamed, and from inside the apartment behind her, Mike could hear movement as a young man with electric blue eyes joined Gabriella at the door, wrapping his arms around her waist as she turned to bury her face in his chest, her body shaking with sobs as the man looked at Mike for an explanation. "I'm ok Troy," Gabriella eventually whispered as she pulled back from him and he tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, studying her face with great concern.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked her softly, still looking for any sign of what had gotten her so distressed.

Gabriella's eyes widened in fear at the thought of being left alone with her father again, and she clung onto Troy with all her might, wrapping her arms tightly around his torso.

Troy looked back up at Mike and smiled slightly, "Troy Bolton," he said cautiously, looking down to see Gabriella's reaction as he did so, an extending his hand for Mike to shake.

"Mike Montez," Mike smiled back, taking hold of Troy's hand and shaking it as Troy himself gasped in shock and Gabriella reburied her face in his chest, silent tears now making their way down her face.

"But… but… you're Ella's, you're Ella's father! I thought you were dead!" Troy exclaimed, his face paling as he looked desperately from his fiancée and back again.

"Yeah well so did every one else apparently," Mike smiled back, before he refocused on his daughter's head, "Gabriella, were you being truthful when you said what happened to you Mother? Because you know sweetie, I really can't imagine your Mother ever attempting to hurt you, and from what I've heard, you went off the rails after you moved to Albuquerque, fell in with the wrong crowd and started to date the basketball captain apparently," he mused, treating Gabriella like she was still only a little girl, who needed to be taught what the truth was and what was right and wrong, anger coursed through both Gabriella and Troy's veins at the way he seemed so patronising, and just at the fact that he believed that she could make up something like the hell that they had gone through, four years previous.

"You really think she'd lie about something like that!" Troy yelled as Gabriella clung onto him, trying to get him to not hit the person that had suddenly reappeared in her life, before yelling for Chad to come and get Troy away from the door.

Once Troy was successfully out of harms way, Chad rejoined Gabriella at the door, having heard what had happened from Troy and refusing to leave Gabriella alone with this man.

Gabriella drew in a shaky breath before looking back at her Father, "I meant every single word of it. I did not fall in with the wrong crowd, if anything I fell in with the best people at my school. The fact that Troy and I are still together even three years after high school is a tribute to that, and the fact that all of my friends from high school are currently sat in my front room is also a tribute to that, add to that the fact that Chad's parents adopted me when I was left with no one thanks to the army apparently mucking up your records and my Mother shooting herself, I'd say that I've turned out pretty well, and the only time I flew remotely off the rails, when the pressure of what Mom and her new boyfriend were doing to me got to me, my real family was there to pull me back in, and to help me get out of the situation that you and my so called Mother created for me. The past four years have been the happiest four of my life. I have had two parents and a big brother who care a hell of a lot about me, and who have never once broken a promise to me," Gabriella's eyes flashed with anger, and Chad beamed, glad to see his little sister standing up for herself, and pleased that he had helped to create the happiest four years that she had lived in her twenty years of life, "add to that the fact that I have all of my other friends, who are just like big brothers and sisters to me, along with their parents and Troy, I'd say that I'm now pretty lucky, but that has absolutely nothing to do with anything that you've ever done for me," Gabriella spat, her top lip turned up in disgust as she once again glowered at her supposedly deceased Father.

"Well then Gabriella, if that's how you feel fine, I'm sorry that I have been such a burden on your life," Mike sighed sarcastically, but Gabriella's hard expression didn't change from where she stood, one of Chad's arms wrapped securely around her shoulders.

"I think you should just leave, don't you think you've already done enough damage?" Chad ordered, seeing the tears threatening to spill from Gabriella's eyes once more, before anyone else did.

"Fine, but Gabriella, I just want you to meet the man who actually helped me to find you after all these years, I thought that you would be happy to see me, but apparently not," Mike smiled sadly, and Gabriella shuffled uncomfortably, as Mike pulled an all too familiar person out from further down the corridor, and the newcomer smirked at Gabriella, as she felt herself trying desperately hard not to throw up, "Gabriella, this is my best friend Rick…"

**Well guys, there was chapter 2, please review and tell me what you thought and the third chapter will be up wither later on tonight or some time tomorrow.**


	3. Chapter 3

Need You Now

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, thanks to all of you who reviewed, anyway, here's chapter 3, hope you enjoy it, please review and tell me what you thought.**

**Chapter 3**

Still staring at Rick, Gabriella felt her heart stop as millions of flashbacks suddenly entered her head, Rick punching her, Rick kicking her, Rick pulling her up by her hair, Rick putting a cigarette out on her, Rick smashing a glass on her leg, Rick raping her…

Gabriella's breathing became shallow and erratic, as she looked at the man who had caused her undeniable pain, and had made her lose trust in everyone and everything, including her best friends for a while. Chad looked at her, concerned as to what was going on with his baby sister.

Gabriella's hand shot to her head as a headache hit her hard and fast, she could sense both her Dad and Chad watching her with concern, but moreover, she could feel _his_ eyes on her, _his_ eyes mentally undressing her, _his_ eyes taunting her, _his_ face smirking at her.

"I can't do this, I've got to get out of here," Gabriella muttered, shrugging off Chad's arm and running for the stairs, hearing Chad and the rest of the gang, who had arrived at the door by now, calling her name in the distance, as the blood pounded in her ears, and she remembered the sound of _his_ laughter as he slowly abused her.

Believing that Gabriella only needed time to try and take in all of the information of her father actually being alive, the gang decided that it was best to just leave her to go wherever she was going, although not a single one of them knew that Rick was the Rick who had been Gabriella's Mom's boyfriend, having never met him before, so invited both men into the apartment to wait for Gabriella's return.

However as Mike accepted, Gabriella was still his daughter, even if he hadn't seen her in seven years, Rick declined, saying that it was not his place to stay, as his own plans formed as he headed for the exit of the building, hoping that Gabriella would still find peace in the same things that she did the last time he saw her four years ago.

Walking through the park, Gabriella took a deep breath, glad to be away from the man that had caused her life to become torturous so quickly, and out in the open, she especially loved the section of the park that she was now stood in as there were very few people that knew about it, and currently there was no one else around.

She slowly sunk down onto the bench facing the small pond and put her head in her hands, trying desperately to figure out a way to work her way out of the terrible situation that she had been put into, she already had a family, so she didn't want her father back in her life, especially if he was going to treat her like a little child, as he had just done when he had seen her for the first time that afternoon. And Rick…Gabriella had no clue what she would do about Rick.

Sighing in frustration, Gabriella soon found herself stood back up off of the bench and pacing backwards and forwards behind it.

However, her eyes went wide with fright and shock as she felt someone grab her from behind, strategically placing one gigantic hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming and drawing attention to herself, even though there was still no one to be seen.

Gabriella felt herself be pulled into a very shady packet of trees and flung forcefully against one of them, instantly realising who it was that had grabbed her, when she felt a hand hit her face, before a fist in her gut, as she doubled over in pain, trying not to cry out, knowing that that would only make everything worse for herself.

"Four years Gabriella," Rick spat out, puncturing each word with another hit, as the blood now poured into Gabriella's mouth, and he used his other hand to hold her upright by her neck. "Four bloody years, I've looked for you and searched for you!" He laughed harshly as he saw terror etched onto every single one of her facial features, and she gasped for air, "Did you really think that you were gonna get away that easily? Did you really think that I wanted to be with that stupid Mother of yours?" Gabriella automatically tensed up and bristled slightly when he mentioned her Mother, which went completely over Rick's head, "Please, I couldn't have cared less about her, the only reason I was with her was because I had free reign over you." He laughed harshly and took his cigarette out of his mouth, lifting Gabriella's knee length skirt slightly and stubbing it out on her as she writhed in pain, causing Rick to smirk once more. "And now you little slut, I'm going to take what is rightfully mine," he laughed once more as Gabriella's terror climaxed and he unzipped his jeans, pushing her harshly against the tree once more.

Gabriella opened her mouth, in a desperate attempt to scream, but Rick saw and quickly clamped a hand back over her mouth, "I wouldn't do that if I were you Gabriella, not if you want pretty boy and those friends of yours to live," he smirked at her, before ripping off her top, causing her to shudder in dread, and rip her skirt almost in half, in an attempt to hurry along what he was planning.

After repeating what he had done to Gabriella in her teenage years four or so times over, as well as hitting and kicking her around a bit, Rick had finally had enough, and had left the sobbing Gabriella on the ground as he himself had just walked away, promising that he would be back to see her again soon.

A few hours after he had left, Gabriella had finally found it in herself to pull her ruined bloodstained clothes back on, and head out of the thicket of trees, by which time the sun had set and night time darkness was setting in all around Los Angeles. She managed to find her way out of the trees and stumbled onto the main path, which was now filled with young lovers and people returning home from work.

Gabriella sobbed, drawing the attention of many passers by, who just skirted around her, and hurried away, as the young woman walked around the park in her torn clothing. As she collapsed onto a bench, she knew that she couldn't take going through any of this with Rick again, and knew that one way or another, she had to stay away from him, because if this continues as it had done the last time, Gabriella Montez was not going to survive…

**Well that was chapter 3, this story is already getting as dark as some parts of Need You More Than Ever, a lot faster than that originally did, but please review and tell me what you thought and the next chapter will be out tomorrow.**


	4. Chapter 4

Need You Now

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, thanks for the reviews, anyway, here's chapter 4, hope you enjoy it, please review and tell me what you thought.**

**Chapter 4**

As four am rolled around, the gang had finally given up on Gabriella returning home that night, and had all decided that it was best if they just went to sleep and gave her some time to think for herself, and then she could talk to them in the morning if she wanted to.

However, at four am that morning, Gabriella had finally figured out what she was going to do to get away from Rick this time. This time, she wasn't going to just sit around and take it. This time, she was going to run. She was going to run far away from LA, hopefully to a place where he would never find her.

At four am that morning, Gabriella walked slowly and quietly into the apartment, standing still when she heard a sudden movement from the front room as she passed it, and laughing softly as she saw Ryan mutter something to himself in his sleep before rolling over on the sofa and going back to sleep.

Gabriella now knew that she'd have to be extra quiet as she walked through the main room to get to her own, as Ryan was an extremely light sleeper, and if he woke up and saw her, he'd immediately wake up all of the others, and the last thing that Gabriella wanted right now was for everyone to wake up.

She gently opened the door to her own room and grinned softly as she saw Troy leaning over the side of the bed, one foot rested on the floor, and his other arm dangling, his fingers only an inch or so from the floor, as he snored softly.

Tears started to stream down her face as she gently prised an old suitcase, one of the ones she always used for returning home to Albuquerque, out from underneath the bed, and quietly opened her closet, emptying it of as many clothes as possible, her eyes constantly wandering back to her slumbering fiancée, unsure as to whether or not she should wake him and tell him she was leaving or not. As far as she was concerned, she was in a lose lose situation, it was either break his heart, or break his heart, and Gabriella couldn't stand watching the man she loved cry, so she decided that she would leave him sleeping and he would find out on his own the following morning.

Next, she wandered into the bathroom that she shared with Sharpay, laughing softly in the dim lighting as she saw a note that Sharpay had evidently left for her on the mirror, written in a lipstick that Sharpay never used, much preferring just lip-gloss.

_Hey Boo,_

_When you get in, please come and wake me up, I'm missing you like crazy and I'm going out of my mind with worry! Please come wake me up and we can talk about whatever you want._

_Luv ya, Pay_

Gabriella gently traced a couple of the letters of Sharpay's incredibly neat handwriting, before frowning and once again resuming her task, gathering up all of her essential supplies, such as her toothbrush and toothpaste, her make-up, her collection of miniature shower gels, which Taylor had given her for her twenty-first birthday only a week and a half prior to when this nightmare began, and all of her hair things, in amongst others.

She then walked back into her own room, smiling once more through her tears when she saw Troy still lying in the same position. She quickly dumped all of her vanities into her bigger case, before collecting the few photos and the photo album that she had around her room, and dumping them in as well.

Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her cell phone and moved back into the bathroom, dialling a number that she had never used unless she was ordering something for two or more people, usually herself and Troy.

"Hello, how may I help you this morning?" a voice asked, picking up after only the second ring.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, wondering how anyone could be so perky and upbeat at quarter past four in the morning, "Umm yes, well you see I need a flight out of LA, as soon as possible please."

"Where to?" The energetic voice asked once more, and Gabriella could hear her tapping away on a computer keyboard.

"Anywhere in the country if that's possible," Gabriella answered, twiddling her thumbs nervously as she sat on the edge of the bathtub.

"Right, well then we have a flight leaving in just over an hour and a half, if you can make it here on time, and would you like one way or two way?" The voice questioned, and Gabriella sighed softly, her eyes flickering back to her bedroom door, where her fiancée lay snoozing, not having a clue about what she was doing.

"One way only, and I'll be there," Gabriella stated firmly, as she hung up the phone and buried her face in her hands, sobbing silently.

Opening the bathroom door, she saw that just down the hallway, Kelsi's door was also open, so she decided to go and investigate, saying her own goodbye to her good friend.

She ginned as she arrived at Kelsi's door, and saw Jason in the same position that Troy was in on her own bed, only Jason had Kelsi leaning on the side of him, pushing him further and further out of the bed gradually. She took one look around Kelsi's room and smiled at how the room reflected her musically talented friend, painted a dark creamy colour, with black music notes, which Gabriella herself had painted, being the artist out of the friends, dotted around the room, and Kelsi's keyboard sat in the corner, surrounded by paper covered by different songs that Kelsi was currently working on.

"Goodbye guys, I'll miss you," Gabriella whispered softly as she pulled the door closed and ventured a little further down the hallway to Taylor's room.

Stopping outside the room, Gabriella lightly pushed the door open and beamed at her slumbering brother and one of her best friends. Chad was lying full length on the bed, one hand up behind his head and one arm wrapped safely around Taylor's waist, who had her own hands resting on his bare chest, with her head resting on top of them.

Gabriella smiled as she thought of the last four years with Chad as her actual legal brother, she was right when she said that they had been the best four of her life, and she knew that even as she ran away, she would never forget the four years where she actually had parent figures to turn to when she was in a tight jam and needed help, as well as a brother who stuck by her through every little thing that she did, and never left her side when she needed him the most.

Smiling sadly, she ambled back up the hallway and straight past her own room, opening the door to Sharpay's room.

It was evident straight away that Sharpay had been crying, from her tear stained face, and Gabriella immediately felt guilty as her best friend lay facing towards her, one hand under her head, the other holding onto Zeke's hands, which were wrapped around her petite waist, as he too lay facing the door, his front pressed tightly against her back.

She would miss all of them, she knew she would, as she closed Sharpay's door, casting one final look at her best friend, before quickly peeking at Ryan, still well aware that he was the light sleeper in the group, and moving back to her own room, to say her final goodbyes to the one person who she had ever loved and the one person who had helped her show the world who the real Gabriella Montez was.

She silently pushed Troy back onto the bed from his weird position, stopping only shortly when he started to mumble something. She cried silently to herself as she pushed a stray lock of hair out of his eyes and gently kissed his forehead, before placing another gentle kiss on his lips, thankful that he was a very heavy sleeper.

"Goodbye Troy, I love you, always and forever," she whispered their saying as she placed one final kiss on his lips before grabbing her suitcase and bag and walking out of the room, the tears now cascading down her face as she refused to look back.

She carefully placed the note that she had written on the small table beside the front door, knowing that Sharpay would put the post there the following morning, as she always did, and see the note immediately. Gabriella then slipped her engagement ring off of her finger and placed it on the note, along with her cell phone and apartment key.

Looking back one last time, Gabriella closed the door to her apartment and headed for the lift and out of the apartment block, towards the awaiting taxi.

"Where to Miss?" the driver asked kindly, seeing Gabriella's tears still streaming as he sat back in the car after loading her suitcase into the trunk.

Gabriella took a deep breath, "Los Angeles International please," she whispered firmly, looking over her shoulder, and watching her old life disappear into the distance, all by four thirty in the morning.

**Well guys, that was chapter 4 please review and tell me what you thought, the more reviews I get, the quicker chapter 5 will be posted.**


	5. Chapter 5

"No you guys

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, thanks for all of your reviews! Here's chapter 5, please read and review.**

**Chapter 5**

Waking up the next morning, first as usual, Sharpay sauntered into the main room, just happening to be singing really loudly, waking Ryan up in the process, who grumbled something at her about still being tired, before picking up his bed sheets and stomping off to find the laundry pile.

Sharpay grinned once more, knowing that her brother hated being disturbed from sleep, before meandering down the stairs to see if the post had arrived yet.

Spying their post box full to overflowing, Sharpay grinned and started to flick through the mail, noticing that most of it was actually for Gabriella, and pausing momentarily to look at the door to the building, wishing that Gabriella would come home, with one last wistful look, and a sigh, Sharpay slumped back up to the apartment, to find Ryan still the only one awake watching some kids cartoons on the TV.

Rolling her eyes, Sharpay put her own post on the end of the coffee table, before moving back and closing the front door, once again glancing down the corridor, hoping for at least a glimpse of Gabriella.

Turning, she was about to put everyone else's post onto the little table beside the door, for them to collect in their own time, when a silver glint in the corner of her eye stopped her, and she turned fully around to face the table.

A sharp shriek rang out throughout the apartment, waking everyone up, and causing Jason to fall out of the bed, Kelsi landing on top of him only moments later, as Sharpay continued to scream, and everyone rushed to her side, eager to find out what was wrong.

"Shar, what is it, did you break a nail or something?" Ryan cried out frantically, trying to make light of the situation, but only earning himself looks that could kill from everyone else, especially his sister.

"NO RYAN, I DID NOT BREAK A NAIL!" Sharpay screeched, the ice princess in her returning momentarily, before she convulsed into heavy sobs.

"Well then Shar, what is it?" Troy asked gently, already on the end of his tether after noticing that Gabriella was still nowhere to be found, but all Sharpay did was point to the small table beside the door.

Shrugging slightly, Kelsi walked over to what had caused Sharpay to become so upset, while Zeke wrapped his arms around his shaking girlfriend. When she reached the table, Kelsi turned deathly pale, and picked up Gabriella's note and the engagement ring, only to have both instantly snatched away by Troy, who was now shaking himself, knowing that Gabriella had never taken her engagement ring off since they had gotten engaged in front of all of their family and friends on the night of their high school graduation.

Quickly skimming the note over, which was written in Gabriella's flawless handwriting, Troy slowly sunk to his knees beside Sharpay, crying silent tears, and Sharpay, the only other one to have actually read the note, crawled out of Zeke's arms to wrap Troy in a hug, whispering how sorry she was over and over again, and gently taking the note out of Troy's hands, handing it to Taylor, and giving her the nod to read it out to the rest of the gang, who were now very confused, but had an idea that it had something to do with Gabriella.

Taylor read the note to herself first, and tears of her own made tracks down her face, as she took in a shaky breath and quietly started to read the note out for everyone to hear.

_Dear gang,_

_I have to leave, I'm sorry guys, I really wish that I didn't, and if I didn't have too, then I wouldn't, but my Dad coming back into my life, that's just too much for me too handle guys, I mean he was dead for four years, and all of a sudden he waltzes in and starts acting like my father again? That just doesn't work for me, I'm sorry, and the guy that he brought back into my life? That would be the one and only Rick, my Mom's infamous ex-boyfriend, and he's already been after me again guys, I have the cuts, bruises and torn clothes to show for it, if I stay in LA, he's just going to keep coming at me, and I can't go through that again, I'm not strong enough to survive it again._

_You guys are all my family, always have been since I moved to East High, I love each of you, for very different reasons though._

_Jason, you're always there to make me laugh with your weird sense of knowledge, and I'm going to miss that about you more than you can ever know, take good care of Kelsi though, or I will track you down and kill you, you are one of my big brothers though Jay, I love you, and thank you for being part of my life._

_Kelsi, you are one of two people who brought music into my life, and I want to thank you for that, you gave me the confidence I needed to get up on that stage, and I know that without you, I would have only ever been Geeky Gabby to everyone, so thanks for that, you are my big sister Kelsi, and I really don't know how I would have survived East High without you, so thanks, and I love you, my music centred sister._

_Zeke, I have learned so much from you that it's not even funny, you may not believe that, but you taught me how to bake (thanks for the cookies recipe, I never did tell you that I was the one who took it to photocopy) and you taught me so much more about who I am and who I can be, thank you so much for that Zeke, I wouldn't be the person that I am today without you, so thanks and I love you bro._

_Taylor, you have been one of my best friends since my very first day of East High. Sure you might have screwed up mine and Troy's first attempt to sing together, but you also helped bring us back together, and you've always been there for me when I needed you, mainly when I needed advice on how to handle a situation with Troy or Sharpay, but you were always there to listen and give your advice, so thanks and I love you my advice given sister._

_Ryan, where to begin? You always protected me when none of the others were around, and I know from Pay that you even tried your hardest to protect me from her in the beginning, so what I want to say to you Ry, is please stay strong, I'll always be there for you and the others, just remember that old saying that we had to find out about for English I senior year Ryan, "there will always be a rainbow in every storm" and keep believing in that, you're one of my big brothers Ryan, and I could have never come anywhere near as far as where I am now without you, so keep acting and keep shining, if you can do that, I'll love you always Ry, so thanks._

_Sharpay, Sharpay, Sharpay, we've been through our ups and our downs together you and me haven't we? We started of as enemies, but now, you know everything about me and I about you, your secrets are always safe with me Pay, and I hope that mine are with you. The two of us have probably put up with more crap and criticism from each other, in amongst the laughter and the tears, the make-ups and the break ups than any of the rest of the gang could ever imagine. You're my stage sister Pay, so when you are up on that stage, and when you get famous, every time you act or sing a song, think of me, and I'll be right there with you. I love you Pay, just as long as you keep believing and living._

_Well Chad, I told you that I had a horrible feeling about this year bro, and it turns out that I was right. You've always been there for me Chad, well after you stopped telling Troy that I was getting in the way of the basketball team winning the championship, and you have always protected me, without a single complaint. Bu the best thing that you have ever done for me Chad, you saved my life. If it wasn't for you stopping the bleeding after I did what I did, I don't think that I would be here now, in fact I know that I wouldn't be here now, because I wouldn't have done a thing to stop it. You also gave me a family Chad, and I want you to tell Mom and Dad that I love them so much, and Chad, I love you too, my superstar big bro._

_Troy Bolton. What can I say Troy? You have had the biggest impact on my life out of anyone, including both sets of my parents. You helped me to find the real Gabriella Montez, and find a way to express myself. You taught me how to show my feelings, rather than keep them bottled up to the point of exploding. For all of that Troy, I am eternally grateful to you, but there are far better reasons why I am even more grateful to have met you, you're a once in a lifetime Troy, once in a lifetime._

_Troy, I love you with all my heart, always have, always will, but please don't wait for me, find someone else to make you happy, to give your love too, but remember Troy Bolton, that I love you, always and forever._

_I love all of you guys, never forget that, and please don't forget me, but move on with your lives, and please don't look for me, having to uproot myself once thanks to this is hard enough, but twice and I don't know if I'll be able to handle it. You guys are my family, always will be, I love you all so much, so please for me, move on with and enjoy your lives._

_Love Always,_

_Gabriella_

By the time that Taylor had finished reading the letter out, there wasn't a dry eye in the room, as everyone contemplated what Gabriella had written and what they were going to do about it.

Suddenly, Troy rose to his feet and headed for the front door.

"Troy, where are you going," Kelsi managed to choke through her tears, wrapped in a hug by Jason.

"I'm going to find my fiancée, and I'm going to bring her home," Troy stated firmly, staring down all of the others, as though daring them to defy him.

"Ok, but Troy, you still only have your jogging bottoms on," Taylor stated, looking her friend up and down. Troy frowned slightly, before grabbing his hoody from by the door and slipping his trainers on.

"There," he stated, looking back at the group, who nodded at him, the boys' following his actions, and the girls rushing of to shove some clothes on, returning only moments later, much to the guys surprise.

Jason took a deep breath, ready to take the lead, as it was obvious that no one else was, "ok guys, we all have to split up and take different sections of the city, mainly Gabs favourite spots though, and Chad, call around everyone that we know from high school and college, and all of our parents, see if any of them have seen Gabby, and then we'll all meet back here in say three hours," Jason finished with everyone staring at him in astonishment, Troy's hand still rested on the door handle, "Well then let's go!" Jason suddenly yelled and everyone jumped about a foot in the air, before all racing out of the apartment but Chad, who returned to Taylor's bedroom, to start on the dozens of phone calls that he was going to have to make.

True to their word, three hours later, everyone returned the ones that had been driving tossing their car keys onto the nearest table, and those that had been walking or running looking physically drained, as they all headed into the kitchen, and Kelsi instinctively put coffee on for all of them, except Sharpay, as she and Gabriella had long since been banned from high doses of caffeine by the gang, after they figured out just how hyper and jittery it made the two of them, so she instead started to root through the fridge for a cold bottle of water.

A half hour or so later, Chad stomped into the room, tossing the phone onto the table as he passed it to lean against the bench, facing all of the others sat around the table, coffee mugs pressed firmly between their hands, even though the coffee was long since cold, "Well, I've called every single one of friends and all of our parents and not a single one of them has seen or heard from her, so I really just don't know what else to do," Chad frowned as those around the table groaned, and rested their heads in their hands or on the table having hoped for better news.

The gang carried on like this for two weeks, only stopping their searches for Gabriella to attend classes, of which they had found out Gabriella had actually finished for the year, or to eat, which their parents kept reminding them that they had to do.

The police had been no help to them at all, saying that it had been Gabriella's decision to leave, so there was absolutely nothing that they could have done to help find her.

But after those two weeks, the whole gang was starting to give up, losing hope and spirit with each passing minute that they had no idea where Gabriella was.

"Look guys, it's been two weeks, we're all emotionally and physically drained, we've all finished our classes for the summer, so I think that we at least need to take a break from searching for Gabriella, otherwise, we're going to make ourselves ill, and we know from personal experience that Gabriella is extremely good at hiding when she wants to be," Zeke muttered, from where he was sat on the couch, Sharpay's head resting on his shoulder, her eyes drooping as she hadn't had barely any sleep for worry over Gabriella, and the rest of the gang except one member agreed with Zeke.

"No you guys!" Troy suddenly snapped, startling everyone, "I know Ella, and we've been looking in all of the wrong places, there is no way that she would stay in the same city if she was running away, there's just no way, she's too smart for that," Troy sighed as the rest of the group looked at each other, murmuring their agreement, "But, I do know one thing, starting of life in a new place terrifies Ella, after all of the moving around she did as a kid, so she'll have gone to somewhere that she's been before," Troy's eyes flicked up to look at the others from the seat in which he was sitting, "so I can only see one solution to this," his eyes caught on everyone else's, who nodded back slowly, slightly scared of what Troy was planning, "Ella has lived in eight different cities mainly, she just moved around them, and if my maths is right," he rolled his eyes, and the others tried not to laugh, "there are eight of us," Troy took a deep breath and looked back at the others once more, "we split up, eight people, eight cities, one city each…"

**Well guys, there was chapter 5, please review and tell me what you thought, and depending on how many reviews I get, I might be able to update either later tonight or early on tomorrow.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, thanks for all of your reviews! Sorry I didn't update yesterday, I have a crazy revision timetable to try and stick to as my exams start next month, anyway, here's chapter 6, hope you enjoy it and please review.**

**Chapter 6**

Walking out into the sweltering afternoon sun, Ryan instinctively pulled his sunglasses down off of the top of his head and pulled his baseball cap so that it was completely shading his eyes, as he glared at the cloudless sky.

"Stupid Troy," he mumbled, "Had to send me off to San Francisco where I'm going to die from the heat, could've had New York or even Chicago, but no Ryan, you'll be good in San Francisco Ryan, so I need you to go there Ryan, stupid Bolton," Ryan huffed to himself as he slumped off to find a taxi, dragging his heavy suitcase behind him.

Deciding that it was best if he went to his hotel first, and got some rest, so that he wasn't as cranky if he did actually find Gabriella, Ryan had instructed the taxi driver to take him straight there, and he was currently lying flat out on his bed, the air conditioning on full and considering ordering room service as he skimmed the list of possible places that Gabriella had just happened to mention to the gang that she loved to go to while she lived in San Francisco, and trying to figure out the best way to get around all thirty two places, and have a thorough search of each of them while he was on his week long stay in San Francisco, having wasted the first day travelling, but knowing that if he really needed to, he could extend his stay until he had covered at least all of those places.

Sighing, he rolled over, knowing that his week here in San Francisco was not going to be easy, battling both the weather and the tourists, but he knew that one way or another, he or one of the others in the gang had to find Gabriella, as he glanced quickly at the picture that he kept of the gang in his wallet, from their first day in LA, the guys were all sat on the hood of Troy's then new 1969 red mustang convertible, a graduation present from his grandparents, the girls all stood in between their legs, laughing their heads off and soaked right through as they had just all had a massive water fight, to fight of the dire heat, Ryan stood off to the side a little, leaning on the car, the only dry one, and laughing at the others as they acted like idiots, completely unaware of the camera that he had just set up, and just to his luck, the moment that the shutter clicked, was the moment that Troy had pulled Gabriella up into his arms, her feet dangling off of the floor and she had reached over to give him a peck on the cheek. Sighing once more, Ryan returned his wallet to the night stand beside his bed and fell into a restless sleep, praying that someone would find his little sister, and fast.

Waking up the next morning bright and early, knowing from experience that Gabriella was an early bird, Ryan huffed as he saw that the Sun was already out in full force, and lathered his pale skin with high factor sun tan oil, before grabbing his sunglasses and pulling his cap down over his eyes, skipping breakfast and leaving his hotel as fast as possible, to start his week long search in San Francisco.

Looking at his list, Ryan smiled slightly and headed off to his first destination, Fisherman's Wharf, heading straight for pier 39 after having heard Gabriella go on about how she used to love going there to go shopping with the few friends that she had had in San Francisco, or to just go there by herself to see the sea lions when they arrived on the pier.

Ryan searched everywhere he could think of on the pier, evening searching through the entire mall, the marine mammal centre and the aquarium of the bay, but to no such luck, feeling disheartened, he scratched Fisherman's Wharf off of his list and moved onto the next one, calling a taxi at the first possible opportunity.

By the end of his first day in San Francisco, Ryan could already cross off seven of his destinations from his list, and collapsed to his bed, completely exhausted from the days activities, as he opted to just order room service, rather than head out to find a meal.

Two days later, and Ryan had still not had any luck, despite the fact that he had now been to twelve of his destinations, and only had twenty left to go to, in the four days that he had left, including the day that he was currently on, in which he had visited a further six sites so far that day, again with no luck of seeing Gabriella, and he was now pulling up to his final stop for the day, more exhausted than ever.

However, when Ryan climbed out of the taxi, he had to smile, Gabriella had been exactly right, what else could he have expected, when she had called golden gate Park a place of absolute beauty, Ryan headed towards it in complete awe, before remembering his duty and immediately going back into searcher mode, scanning the crowds for his missing friend.

Straight away, Ryan headed for what he knew was Gabriella's favourite part of the park, after having talked to her about San Francisco many times, which was why he was the one chosen to go there, and after talking to her only real friend from San Francisco, Mandy, only the day before hand, to see if she had possibly heard from Gabriella at all, which she had not.

Reaching Stow Lake, Ryan took in a deep breath as he observed the natural beauty and tranquillity of the area, suddenly realising what Gabriella had meant when she said that it made you feel as though you were the only person in the world, and as though you were seeing real beauty for the first time.

Ryan looked around, his wide pools of eyes drinking in the large lake, with the shady trees hanging around the waters edge, sun beams dancing through the leaves, as the ducks splashed around on the surface of the water, making little noise as they took flight or landed. Ryan however, noticed that he really was the only person there, and sighed when he realised that Gabriella was not there beside him as he had hoped that she would be.

After checking Gabriella's other two favourite spots in the entire park, the Japanese Tea Garden, and the AIDS Memorial grove, knowing that she liked to leave flowers, and remember all that had been lost to the disease, Ryan finally had to admit defeat for the day, and said goodbye to his third day in San Francisco, without Gabriella.

By the second last day of his trip, Ryan only had seven places left to visit, and decided that he would spend the day trying to get the majority of them out of the way, leaving Gabriella's favourite place in the entire city until the following day, his last day, knowing that he could then sit there all day, and just watch the world go by, hoping that she would be one of the people that he watched go by, so that he could finally take her home.

At lunchtime, Ryan decided that he would check out Chinatown, knowing that Gabriella's favourite restaurant, which she used to attend weekly in her youth, was situated there, and knowing that he would at least be able to pick up some lunch, and cross another place off of his list, even if he didn't find Gabriella.

Passing under the The Dragon Gate on Grant Avenue at Bush Street, Ryan had to look up in amazement, before shaking his head of the thoughts and quickly rushing off to the restaurant that he was aiming for.

Another disappointing day had come and gone for Ryan Evans, and now he had seen thirty one of Gabriella's favourite sites, and he only had one more left, her all time favourite, the one which she used to gush about all of the time whenever they talked about San Francisco, and the one place where she had told Ryan that she had gone to everyday when she lived there, so Ryan rolled over, desperate to get a good night's sleep, so that he could be there by five am the following morning, to see if Gabriella had been in San Francisco or not, the entire time that he had been here.

Arriving on Baker beach long before anyone ele, Ryan smiled and walked along the peaceful, tranquil beach, once again realising that Gabriella had been right, and that she had the most beautiful spot pegged, and he dropped to the sand, to sit and watch the day away, as he looked at the Golden Gate bridge, practically glowing in the sunrise, not too far away.

Two and a half hours later, many other people had come and gone, walking their dogs or jogging before they had work, but Ryan stayed put, eyeing up anyone that walked onto the beach or anywhere around the beach.

Suddenly, his eyes widened and he jumped to his feet as he saw a young woman with a mass of dark curly hair, and started to sprint towards her as fast as he could, tripping over his own feet a number of times in the process as he cried out to her, "GABRIELLA…"

**Okay guys, please review and tell me what you thought, and I should have the next one up by tonight or tomorrow.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, thanks for all of your reviews, anyway here's chapter 7, hope you like it please read and review.**

**Chapter 7**

Arriving in Las Vegas, Kelsi had to smile slightly, even under the circumstances of why she had returned to the city, she still loved it, and knew that it was a time to catch up with some old relatives, her cousins were even going to help her in the search for her missing friend.

Finally managing to find her cousin Stella's car in the widespread car park, Kelsi had to grin and rushed over to where her twenty year old cousin Stella and her twin brother Tom were sitting on the car, dragging her suitcase behind her at full speed, dropping it and flinging her arms around the twins when she reached them.

"Hey Kelsi," Stella chuckled softly, the identical of Kelsi herself, as sandy haired Tom tried to wriggle out of his slighty older cousin's tight grasp.

"Hey guys," Kelsi smiled sadly as she released them and Tom moved to put her suitcase in the trunk, "I'm so glad to be back here, I just wish it was under different reasons," Kelsi sighed softly and looked to the ground, wringing her hands as she felt Stella's arms wrap around her again.

"We'll find her Kelsi, and if we don't, one of your other friends will, from what I remember about your friends when we last saw them all last Christmas, they never give up, and that is what is going to find Gabriella, and also Troy knows her better than anyone, so if he helped come up with the list of places to go to, you guys are going to find her," Stella pulled back softly as Kelsi gently wiped away the few tears that she had started to cry, and got into the back of the car, the three of them starting the long drive to the twins apartment.

Sitting in the back and listening to the twins argue over what radio station they were going to listen to, Kelsi pulled out her list of places to go, and studied all seventy two of them, working out a schedule to get round them all in a week, and then adding two more places to visit, realising that with Gabriella's smarts, she probably wouldn't just go to the places specified on the list.

Kelsi then put the list back into her bag as a photograph dropped out and hit the floor, bending over to pick it up, a grin spread across Kelsi's face as she slowly sat back up.

It was one of the four girls at their first sleepover with all four of them, at Gabriella's house, towards the end of the summer in sophomore year, when they all finally learnt to trust Sharpay.

The girls had been bugged with Chad constantly asking them if they had pillow fights in their underwear at sleepovers, so had decided to stage a picture of them having one in their pyjamas, to accidentally drop in his room one day, truth be told during that sleepover, the girls had had the most fun during the pillow fight.

Tears found their way to Kelsi's eyes as she ran her finger gently over the picture, the four of them all looking so young and innocent, before anything horrible had happened to any of them, stood on Gabriella's bed, feathers flying everywhere around them as they laughed their heads of, each in their tank tops and short shorts, Sharpay's obviously bright pink, Kelsi's a pastel green, Taylor's a deep red, and Gabriella's a baby blue.

She smiled once more and placed the photo back in her bag, eager to get good nights sleep, and start her search early in the morning.

Waking up the next morning and dressed no later than seven, Kelsi walked into her cousins kitchen to find Stella and Tom already there and dressed, sipping coffee, along with her other seven cousins who still lived in Las Vegas, aged from between seventeen years old, the youngest Luke, and twenty eight years old, the oldest, Lana, and grinned, knowing that they were all going to help her in her search for Gabriella, as they had all met her and fallen in love with her the moment that they started a conversation with her, in Kelsi's opinion, her cousin Harry had at least a slight crush on Gabriella, but had vowed to be her protector, after seeing how in love she was with Troy, and had instead become a very good friend to Gabriella and the rest of the gang, being the same age as them.

After splitting the list up, the cousins quickly got to work, those with sites nearby for the day on foot or bike, and those with further away sites heading for their cars, Kelsi borrowing Luke's for the day.

After meeting up a number of times during the day, and still having no luck, by midnight, the cousins were all crashed out in Stella and Tom's front room, deciding their course of action for the next day, and determined to get around all of Kelsi's sites, and add others if they needed to.

The next day, Kelsi was woken up by six, and ready to start her search again, after an extremely fitful nights sleep.

Grabbing Luke's car keys once more and also her list on her way out the door, Kelsi smiled noticing that Lana, Tom and Kimberly's lists were already gone, them too starting their hunt as early as they could.

To Kelsi, it had been another long day of hunting for Gabriella, but she knew that in the end, when they found her, it would all be worth it as they would have their best friend back, and with that in mind, Kelsi pulled up outside the Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse, one of Kelsi's ideas to add to her original list, knowing that Gabriella would do anything to prevent being found, even changing her name.

Once she reached the apartment that night, Kelsi found all but one of her cousins had already returned home, with still no news on the missing young woman.

On her last night in Vegas, Kelsi and her cousins had still not found any trace of Gabriella in the city, even after looking at all seventy two of the places on Kelsi's list, including the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, amongst other places, and adding at least twenty more places to the list during Kelsi's stay, and had decided that she must have returned somewhere else instead, so to celebrate Kelsi's last night before returning to LA, her cousins had decided that they needed to take her out to see one of the performances along the strip.

They had ended up in the bar of one of the larger hotels, where a small act was going to be playing that night, but the cousins had heard that the act was an amazing must see show at the minute, Lana's husband luckily being the manager at the hotel, so he easily managed to get them a table reserved.

The cousins had had a fantastic night so far, those that could drink drinking until their hearts content, and those that could not downing as much soda as possible, Kelsi included as she had decided it was best not to drink as her flight was leaving early the next day.

When the act was announced however, a sudden eager hush fell over the room, and everyone watched as she climbed onto the stage, the cousins' eyes all bugging out of their sockets the minute that they saw her.

"Gabriella," Kelsi breathed out softly, almost dropping her drink…

**Well guys there was chapter 7, hope you enjoyed it, chapter 8 should be up tomorrow, please review and tell me what you thought.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, I am so sorry for not updating sooner, but school has been extremely hectic with revision sessions as my exams start in two weeks time, anyway, here's chapter 8, please review and hopefully chapter 9 should be up within the next week.**

**Chapter 8**

Stepping out of the airport, Zeke breathed in deeply, trying to rid his lungs of the stuffy air that was currently filling them, and searched the hundreds of signs that had suddenly surrounded him as he stepped out of the terminal, looking for only one, an old friend from East High, who was currently living and going to college in Washington D.C. and who was going to join the hunt for the missing Gabriella.

Spotting Chuckey in amongst the crowd, Zeke quickly made his way over to the ex East High basketball player, and the two of them did the team's secret handshake, before heading off to find Chuckey's car, and loading it up with Zeke's luggage for the week.

Sitting in the front seat if the red convertible, Zeke quickly pulled out his list, to show Chuckey the record of forty-two places that the two of them had to cover that week, and instantly decided that it would be best to split up, and rent his own car for the week.

After completing the task for the day, renting a car, the two had arrived back at Chuckey's dorm room, and spent the rest of the evening dividing the places up between them, deciding that it would be best if Zeke tackled the more touristy places as he was only really a tourist himself, and if Chuckey took some of the more secluded areas, that really only the locals knew about.

Three days into the search, and neither man had managed to turf up any information on the whereabouts of their missing friend, so Zeke had decided that this was the prime opportunity to drive the fourteen miles away from Washington D.C. to one of Gabriella's favourite places in the whole of the eastern side of the country, The Great Falls of the Potomac River.

This was one thing that Zeke and Gabriella had always had in common, although most people pegged her as being a complete girly girl, the gang knew that Gabriella lived for things like camping and hiking, and she had once told Zeke during a sleepover where everyone else had fallen asleep, that she had loved to go to The Falls, any time that she could when she lived in Washington D.C., as she had always found them peaceful and tranquil, especially if she had had an extremely stressful day prior, usually caused by the jocks at her school.

Sitting on the rocks, surrounded by many other tourists, Zeke could see why Gabriella had loved the place so much, it was a completely beautiful spot, easy to drown out all of the hustle and bustle happening around you, he only wished that she could be there with him to see them again.

Looking out at the falls, Zeke made only one wish, that somewhere over the country, at least one member of the gang would be able to find his little sister, and hopefully bring her home, safe and sound, and in one piece.

Sighing once more, Zeke took one last look at the Falls, knowing that by the time he got back into the city, it would be too late to do anymore hunting for that day, and instead deciding to head straight back to Chuckey's, to see if he had discovered anything over the course of another lost day.

Five days into his search, and starting to run out of places to go, Zeke had decided to add a new place onto his list, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, as he knew that although Troy, and the gang always came first for Gabriella, if she didn't have them around, then reading was a close second, and her first alternative.

However, after searching through nearly every stack in the library, and going over her favourite sections, thriller, crime and romance, at least five times, he decided to give up and head to his last place for the day, the Jefferson Memorial.

This idea had come from Chad surprisingly, during one of his and Gabriella's sister-brother chats, which they did almost nightly after she had moved in, the two of them had been talking about sunsets, and Gabriella had mentioned that she had seen many in many different cities, not only in the US, but around the world as well, from when she accompanied her Mother on business trips, but her favourite would always stay as sitting on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial watching the sun set in the sky, and if there was one place she could go everyday to watch a sunset, it would be there.

So Zeke had decided to wait until a sunset, and then search for Gabriella then, but after searching the stairs a good six or seven times, and only seeing couples, as well as a few families, and even a couple of school trips, Zeke had to admit defeat, and slumped back to Chuckey's, more depressed than he had been in a long time.

By his last day in Washington D.C., Zeke only had one place left to go, Smithsonian National Zoological Park. If there was one thing that Gabriella lived for outside of her friends and books, it was wildlife. The gang would often find her helping out at the local shelter during their high school years, and had found millions of sketches that she had drawn over the years, from times when she lived near the zoos, such as this one.

Zeke did a whole sweep of the park, before returning to a place that he knew held Gabriella's some of favourite animals, the clouded leopards. She had excitedly told the gang about the Asia Trail, which had opened only months before she had left the city, and how much she loved to go there, just to watch the leopards, or some of the other animals on the trail, pure and simply because she thought that they were fascinating.

Zeke came to a sudden standstill, his breath catching in his throat, as he noticed a young brunette sat on a bench opposite the enclosure, curls tied back into a loose bun with a few dangling over her face, face scrunched up in concentration, as her pencil worked magic across the sketchbook that sat in her lap, her concentration fully on the clouded leopards and a young girl that was studying them intently from the side of the enclosure.

"Gabriella!" He yelled, waving his hands frantically at her, as he pushed people out of the way, in an attempt to get to the girl before she disappeared…

**Well guys, there was chapter 8, once again sorry for the long wait, hope you liked it, please review and tell me what you thought.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, I am so sorry for the long time without any updates, but things have been crazy around here with having eight exams over the next two weeks, so I've been completely busy revising, and then I had to spend the whole weekend with family and friends because it was my birthday, but I go on study leave in two weeks time, so hopefully I will be able to update more often, anyway, here's chapter 9, please review and hopefully chapter 10 should be up soon.**

**Chapter 9**

Dragging her suitcase with her as she stepped out of the airport terminal in Miami, Taylor grinned, before feeling the air being squeezed out of her, as two strong arms wrapped themselves around her neck.

Dropping her suitcase, Taylor started to tap the person on the back, gradually getting harder as she lost more oxygen, before finally managing to gasp out a few words, "Tessa get the hell off of me now, I can't breathe!!"

"Well hello to you too baby sister, it's so good to see you too," Tess murmured sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she stepped back from Taylor and eyed her little sister up and down. Tess, who was seven years older than Taylor herself, at twenty eight, had moved out to Miami a few years back to attend law school, before deciding that she loved the place so much, she was going to live there, and she was now one of the best prosecutors in the city, however the extravagant miles between the two sisters' meant that they rarely got to see each other, the time before this one being Christmas six months earlier, when they had both been in Albuquerque, visiting their parents, "And since when do you call me by my full name anyway? Tessa my butt, you haven't called me that since I threw your doll down the toilet when you were nine." Tess rolled her eyes again and picked up Taylor's suitcase, heading off to her car, while still carrying her own briefcase, and smirking slightly when she saw Taylor's gawking expression, before the little sister ran to catch up with her big sister, and the two laughed and caught up all the way back to the car.

Driving through the city to get back to her apartment, Tess turned to look at Taylor, who had a grave expression on her face, "What brings you to Miami anyway Tay?" She questioned, her face softening slightly as Taylor jumped at the sound of her voice, "All I got was an incredibly speedy, panicky phone call, saying that you were coming out, and your flight instructions. Was it Chad? Did that idiot do something to you? Are you pregnant?" Tess' voice rose higher and higher with every question she asked, and Taylor had to chuckle slightly at her sister's overprotective side rearing its ugly head once more.

"No Tess, nothing like that, the doofus hasn't done anything," Taylor side and looked at her lap, where her hands were clasped as she twiddled her thumbs, "It's Gabriella," Taylor stopped again, but looked back up at Tess, who nodded encouragingly, now more worried than she had been, seeing that Gabriella was like her own little sister as well, and she was as protective over Gabriella as she was Taylor, maybe even more so with everything that Gabriella had been through in her teenage years. "Rick and her Dad came back, oh yeah, here's a shocker, her Dad's still alive," Taylor added in as Tess shot her a confused and disbelieving look, "Anyway, we didn't know that it was the Rick who abused her over that period of time," Tess' hands tightened on the steering wheel and a grim expression filled her features, "And he started to abuse her again," Taylor's voice broke, and Tess tenderly grabbed one of her younger sister's hand, squeezing it gently, urging her to continue, "She ran Tess, we don't know where she is, she told us that she was going in a letter, and not to look for her, she even left her phone and her engagement ring, so we split up the eight different places that she's lived in between us, and we each took a city, so here I am to look for her in Miami, but he made her do that Tess, he made her leave," Taylor let out a slight scream as the car swerved slightly, before Tess managed to get it back under control, shocked that the ever calm and rational Gabriella would ever do something so drastic as to run away. Taylor buried her face in her hands and sobbed slightly as Tess' face burned with fury over the thought of what was happening to what she had always called 'The Mini Munchkin Gang', after having known all of them except for Gabriella since pre-school, Kelsi and Zeke practically since they were born, even if the whole gang themselves hadn't been friends until Gabriella herself had brought them all together.

Sitting in Tess' front room, the sisters' devised a plan between them, using Taylor's list to figure out who would go to which place, and Tess' using her extreme extremely good persuasion techniques to secure Taylor a car for a week, for Tess' boyfriend Dex, it was either give Taylor the car for the week, and use taxis, or Tess wouldn't see him for the whole month, after some screaming on Tess part, it was quickly secured that Taylor would get the car.

Two days into their search, and neither sister had turned up anything, each tackling one of Gabriella's four favourite places in the city earlier that day.

Tess had staked out the Bayside Market, knowing that this was where some of Gabriella's most precious memories of her Mom came from, when the two of them would just spend lazy days shopping together, having lunch, and usually rounding off with an ice cream, before once more packing up their boxes and moving to yet another city, Albuquerque being the place that they had moved to after Miami.

Taylor on the other hand had headed to The Port of Miami, knowing that when Gabriella had lived in Miami over an eighteen-month space, she had come down to the port most days, as she had been mesmerised by the enormous ships that the port held, and that Gabriella had literally sat there for hours on end, just watching the ships arriving and departing from the port, usually eating at least one ice cream over the course of her stay.

By day four, they were running out of places to search and Taylor was desperately trying to add any new sites that she could possibly think of to the list of places they had to go, breaking Tess' heart more everyday, as she watched her younger sister rack her brains, desperate to find other places that Gabriella would go to in Miami.

The second last day of her trip, Taylor had searched all but two of the sites on her list, one being Miami Beach, which she was staking out all day, as she knew that if she couldn't get to the Port or out shopping, there were only two places that Gabriella would automatically head for, the beach, where she could see the ocean, which Taylor knew had always captivated Gabriella, from when she was a very young child, even right up till now in her twenties, where the gang would still often find her sat on the beach, or on a rock, just watching the waves as they crashed to the shore.

However, Taylor had no luck, and after a long day of scanning the beach constantly, for hours on end, only leaving to take a half hour lunch break, she finally had to admit defeat, and slumped home to Tess' apartment, involuntarily realising that her sister had nothing either, as Taylor had had her cell phone in her hand all day, and had been constantly checking the reception on it.

The sisters' had decided that as they only had one last place to visit, they would spend Taylor's last day in Miami together, before the younger sibling flew back in to Los Angeles later on that night, meeting all of the gang as they flew home as well, all landing at roughly the same time, so they could meet up straight away, and discuss what to do next.

So, Tess and Taylor were both sat high up in Bayfront Park Amphitheater, both eating ice creams, as they carried out one of Gabriella's favourite past times, people watching. However, unlike Gabriella, they were not trying to guess why the business men were running late, or why the woman was yelling at her children, no, they were searching the crowds for a certain young brunette.

Suddenly, both sisters' stopped eating, their mouths dropping as they looked at the person who had just walked up to the stage. A head of dark curly hair, tanned skin, wearing a knee length powder blue gypsy skirt and an off the shoulder powder blue top with ribbons.

Both sisters' looked at each other, before turning back to the person in front of them, each rubbing their eyes before looking back at each other, if this had been any other time, the two of them would have laughed at how comical they looked. Simultaneously, the sisters' started to sprint for Gabriella, screaming her name as they did so…

**Well guys, I'm so sorry for the wait, but that is chapter 9, hopefully chapter 10 will be up soon, please review and tell me what you thought of it.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, thanks for all of your reviews from the last chapter, sorry for the long wait for this one, but my exams officially started on Monday, so I've had to put the majority of my concentration into them, however I have had some time to write this chapter and a new oneshot called A New Light, so please read and review, here's chapter 10.**

**Chapter 10**

Stepping out of the airport terminal, Chad looked around, before heading for the taxi line that would inevitably start his journey to find his little sister in the city of Baltimore.

Standing in the queue, Chad opened his wallet and took out one of his favourite pictures, which always brought a smile to his face, whether or not he'd been fighting with Taylor, or his team had just lost and important game.

During their senior year of high school, Gabriella's second year of living with the Danforth's, the two siblings had decided that it would be a great idea if they baked a cake from scratch for their parents on their twenty fifth wedding anniversary. So they had found what looked like an easy recipe in one of Zeke's cookbooks, and had waited for their parents to go out for lunch, telling the two teenagers not to make a mess under pain of death.

However, as soon as Chad had watched the car had disappear from the end of the street, the two had dashed back inside to the kitchen, practically tearing it apart whilst looking for the ingredients that they needed.

An hour later, the kitchen had been turned upside down, there were eggs hanging from the fan as it twirled around, flour and coco powder littered every surface, and the fridge was covered in sticky handprints as Chad and Gabriella stood in the middle of the room, her holding the bag of coco powder and him holding the bag of flour, handprints on both their cheeks and all down their fronts, flour embedded in their hair as a shriek rang out from the kitchen door and they both whipped around to see their parents stood there, their Mom looking as though she might pass out at any given moment.

The two had instinctively put the flour and coco powder behind their backs and pulled innocent faces, saying hello to their 'Mommy' and 'Daddy', which both parents knew they were only called if Chad and Gabriella wanted something, or they knew they were in trouble.

Both parents had started to laugh at the innocent expressions on the teenagers faces, making them look as though they were two years old again and had just stuffed jam sandwiches into the video player, and before Chad and Gabriella had time to react, their Dad had snapped a photo of the two of them, which was now their parents pride and joy, and each sibling carried a copy of.

Chad sighed once more as he replaced the creased photograph into his wallet and climbed into the back of the taxi, telling the driver the name of his hotel, before sitting back in his seat and staring out of the window, vowing that wherever she was, he was going to find his little sister, even if he had to search every city in the world.

Waking up early the next morning, nothing short of a miracle for Chad Danforth, he decided to pick apart his list and ordered where he was going in way of how important they had been to Gabriella when she lived in Baltimore.

An hour and a half later, and surprised with his own directness, Chad had set off on his week long search for the girl who had become his baby sister from the moment she walked into his life, minus a few mishaps at the beginning, like making her hate Troy, but since then, she had been his best friend, his little sis, and the one he had always discussed his problems with, she was also the only one to know that he was planning on asking Taylor to marry him during their summer break, she had even helped him pick out the ring and everything, not even Troy knew about what he was planning.

Deciding that it was best to start from the top, Chad had headed straight for the National aquarium, knowing that Gabriella's love of animals had driven her there nearly every day, and tie into that the fact that it helped her answer some of her questions about the wonders that lay in the ocean, Gabriella had loved the aquarium, and had been a frequent visitor in her time in Baltimore.

Muttering under his breath about the high admission fees, Chad stormed around the aquarium, scowling visibly, but still managing to look at everything and everyone, searching their faces for that one familiar, elusive girl.

Turning around, Chad jumped out of his skin, causing a group of children nearby to burst into laughter, before Chad turned to them and scowled heavily in their direction, causing their laughter to be turned into screams as they ran off, before turning his attention to the enormous sand tiger shark that had just scared him half to death.

Eyeing the shark up, Chad shivered once more, still muttering under his breath, "Why Briella loves this place and the ocean is beyond me, it gives me the heebie-jeebies," and with that, Chad glared once more, pulling a face at the shark, before jumping again when it started to move, and hurrying away.

Three and a half days into his search, Chad still hadn't turned up anything, and he was starting to give up hope, when he had a sudden idea, and turned his rented car around, heading in the opposite direction.

Grinning, Chad opened the doors of John Hopkins Hospital, knowing that Gabriella being Gabriella, if she was in Baltimore at all, she would be helping at the hospital, he just prayed that she would be helping at this one, as she did their local one in LA and in Albuquerque, when they were at home, however she had been on first name basis with most of the doctors at the hospital in Albuquerque long before she started to help out there, due to the number of times Chad or Troy had ended up there, because one of their dares had gone wrong.

Chad grinned, remembering the time that she had had to come and see them because Troy had dared Chad to try climbing the rock wall at school without any harnesses, only for Chad to fall off halfway up, landing directly on top of Troy. Gabriella had been their first call, when they needed someone to drive them home because they'd each broken an arm, and didn't really feel like being screamed at by one of their parents or one of the others in the gang in the middle of the hospital, but Gabriella had only rolled her eyes and told them to get in the car, only snapping when they started arguing about who was sitting in the front, before telling them to both go in the back, much to their protests.

By the fifth day, Chad still wasn't having any luck, and had felt downright depressed since the nurse at the hospital had told them that they didn't have a helper or a patient by the name of Gabriella Montez, let alone Gabriella Danforth-Montez, in an act of desperation, Chad had even made her try Gabriella Bolton, knowing that before she left, Gabriella had been excited beyond belief for her wedding day, even if it was still over a year away.

Deciding that it was in his best interests to make his next stop the last of his day, if he wanted to retain any of the sanity that he had, Chad decided that he should head for Inner harbour.

Chad kicked himself when he saw just how busy it was, and wondered how he would ever find Gabriella if she was in this place, as it was packed to capacity with tourists, there was barely even any room to breath. Looking back at the car park, Chad let out a string of curses, earning a gasp from the young girl stood beside him, as he noticed for the first time, the six tour buses parked side by side, signalling the arrival of over five hundred tourists.

Finally finding an air pocket, Chad found a spot on the bench that he was now stood next to, and spent the next few hours watching every face intently as they passed by, or at least as many as he could, urging that one of them would be his little sister.

By his last day in Baltimore, Chad had still had no luck, after being woken up by a passing pedestrian at two in the morning when he had fallen asleep on the bench at the Inner Harbour, after people watching for hours on end.

Time was ticking by quickly, and by five on his last day, Chad was heading for his final stop in Baltimore, Federal Hill, as Gabriella had come up there anytime that she needed to think while living in Baltimore, and had just watched the world go by, watching boats come and go from Inner Harbour, and parents walk around with their young children.

Sighing, Chad looked around, noticing many couples and young families talking and laughing, children running around gleefully, bringing a smile to his face, before his gaze caught on a young woman, her dark curls blowing in the wind as she watched the goings on in the harbour, and with the people on the hill.

Silently, Chad moved towards her, knowing that he had found his little sister finally…

**Well guys, that was Chapter 10, please review and tell me what you thought, and hopefully chapter 11 should be up soon, sorry for the long wait.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Need You Now**

**Thanks for the reviews guys, anyway, only two people left after this one, but I might not be able to update again till next weekend, anyway, here's chapter 11, please read and review.**

**Chapter 11**

Troy took a deep breath as he stepped off of the plane and glanced up at the airport, which he had been to only once before. With Gabriella. To celebrate their engagement.

Sighing, Troy shook his head slightly before heading for the terminal in the darkness; the only lighting small lights placed a long the footpath.

Finally getting through customs, Troy looked up at the sky and smiled softly to himself, as he walked towards a waiting taxi, remembering being here before, a naïve eighteen year old with a hyperactive eighteen year old Gabriella, who was just pleased to be back in her second favourite place in the world after Albuquerque, the place where she was born and raised for most of her life. New York.

Troy prayed that she had come back here, and believed that this was the most likely place they were going to find her, or at least where they would most likely find information on where she might be.

Troy reached the taxi and piled his bags into the trunk, opening the door and starting to get in, before something stopped him, and he momentarily paused, "I'll travel to the ends of this Earth to find you Ella, I will find you, and that's a promise, I love you Gabriella," Troy whispered, looking up at the night sky, knowing that wherever she was, they would at least be sharing that, before settling into the taxi and closing the door behind him.

Two days into his search, Troy had found nothing, and he was starting to get aggravated already, coming up with new ways each day to kill Rick for making Gabriella run away in the first place.

He had decided to spend this day at one of Gabriella's favourite places in the world, only this time it was her favourite not for the beauty of it, but for the knowledge that it held inside. Even Troy had to admit he had hated the thought of going to it the first time he was in New York with Gabriella, but her puppy dog pout got him every time, and he had eventually agreed to go to the Museum of Natural History with her, and he had to confess that he had been in awe of the place by the time they had left, and was actually looking forward to going back, especially if it meant that he could possibly find Gabriella.

Troy grinned as he walked around the museum, taking in all of the exhibits, while still managing to study the face of every person that passed, getting slightly irritated that no one seemed to be his Gabriella, but chuckling slightly when he remembered the first time that he was here, Gabriella running around from exhibit to exhibit, her eyes shining with happiness and mischief as she dragged Troy a long with her, explaining everything in so much detail, that Troy had learned more with her in that one afternoon than he had learnt in his whole school career, of course it had helped that the teacher had been his beautifully talented gorgeous fiancée.

By the end of his fourth day, Troy had already taken a stroll along the Hudson River, yet was still unable to find Gabriella, even though he had checked well over a hundred places by now.

He had decided to spend the evening in what had become his and Gabriella's spot during their weeklong stay in New York, sat by the lake in Central Park, the young eighteen year olds had loved coming out there as a finishing off to their day, just lying there together, her head resting on his chest as they watched the stars in the night sky.

He had made her a promise on the last night in New York, sat by that lake, she had asked him if he'd ever leave her if things got really bad again, and he had promised her never, and almost like she could see into the future, she had asked him if things did get really bad again, and she couldn't handle it, and ran, would he come find her? He had promised that he would find her if it took days, weeks, months or even years, and that was a promise that he intended to keep with all of his heart.

Wiping away the tears that had fallen not for the first time that week, Troy scooped up the blanket that he had with him, sighing in defeat and heading back towards his hotel, looking up at the stars in the sky, and performing his now nightly ritual of telling his love how much he loved her, and promising that he would find her, even if he had to go to the ends of the Earth to do so, and praying that wherever she was, she was safe and she was looking at that same night sky.

When the end of last day of Troy's trip rolled around, he had searched over one hundred and fifty places, searching for Gabriella, and only had one more place left to visit, the one place that had had them both amazed when they had been in New York, when they had just stood in the one place for as long as they could, staring out at the city that lay below them, as they watched on from the observation deck on the eighty sixth floor of the Empire State building.

Standing on top of the Empire State building, Troy sighed as he looked around the skyline, knowing that he was going to have to return home without finding any information on his one true love.

Groaning again, Troy's attention was suddenly caught on the petite Latino girl stood next to him, and his breath caught in his throat as he looked at a duplicate of his fiancée, however, when she smiled at him, Troy knew straight away that this girl did not have the sparkle in her eye that his Ella always had when she smiled, so he shook his head softly, frowning and turned his attention back to the skyline, praying that someone, somewhere had found Gabriella, or at least she was safe…

**Well guys, there was chapter 11, hope you enjoyed it, please review and tell me what you thought, only two more cities and people to go now…**


	12. Chapter 12

Need You Now

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, I am so sorry for not updating in so long, but I am now officially on study leave, so apart from my exams, I don't have to go into school, so hopefully I will have more time to write as well as revise, thanks for all of your reviews on the last chapter, once again sorry that this one took so long, please read and review, hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 12**

Jason sat on the floor of his sisters apartment in Albuquerque, surrounded by pieces of paper as April walked in with his six month old nephew Tommy, who immediately held his arms out for Jason.

"Still no luck huh?" April asked sympathetically, as she passed Tommy to Jason, smiling as she saw her younger brother interacting with her baby son, and sinking to the floor beside Jason as she looked at a few of the lists of places that were surrounding her brother.

Jason sighed in frustration and shook his head, leaning it back so that it rested on the couch behind him, "Absolutely nada, I mean I've tried over seventy places since I got here, and I've only got two days left, I thought for sure that Gabs would be back here," he sighed again and brought his head back up to look at April, "but I guess not. We have to find her though April, I don't know how any of us would survive without her, especially not Troy, he's falling apart without her already."

April looked over at her brother and noted the sorrow in his eyes before scooting closer to him and wrapping a comforting arm around his shoulder, "You guys are gonna find her Jas, all you gotta do is have a little faith, I mean everyone can see just how close you all are, and how far you'd all go for each other, so I'm positive you're gonna find her, just believe in her and your friends," She grinned at Jason and he smiled back at her as Tommy suddenly let out a squeal and started bouncing around on Jason's lap, making his mom and uncle laugh before looking at each other again, "See, he agrees to," April chuckled, before taking her son from her brother and starting to tickle him as his delighted squeals filled the air, mixing with Jason's laughter.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, Sharpay was getting equally frustrated in her search for Gabriella, with only two days left until her return to L.A., she had found no trace of her best friend, and she was running out of places to look.

Sitting in the Starbucks that had become her second home in Chicago, along with her parents apartment, over the past five days, Sharpay poured over her list and tried to figure out where to go next after her well deserved break.

Glaring at a guy who had just sat down at her table, Sharpay emitted a low growling sound, usually heard from wild cats, and immediately the guy jumped up, clutching his frappuccino tightly to his chest as he ran across the other side of the small coffee shop, and Sharpay instantly got back to work, scratching out places that she had already been to, and figuring out what her next move was going to be.

The following day, back in New Mexico, Jason had finally figured out his plan, for the remaining two days of his 'vacation' and was meeting her sister after hours at her job. English teacher at East High.

Jason sighed as he looked up at the building and remembered the happy and the sad times the gang had had during their days at East High, ranging from the team winning the championships three years in a row, to the dark ages, as the gang referred to them, when Gabriella pulled away from them all and did whatever she could to block out the memories of what was going on at home.

Shuddering, Jason stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked up to the doors of East High once more, meeting April just inside, as she smiled at him slightly and they started their search for anything that could lead the gang to Gabriella.

After checking all of the classrooms, the cafeteria, the library, the gym and the auditorium, the siblings had to agree that they were running out of places to look, so while April went to speak to a couple of her students who were still left behind, Jason waited in the corridor, before spying a door that he had never seen in his entire time at East High.

"Hey April," he called out and she waved goodbye to her students before walking over to where her brother was, a look of confusion spreading across her face, "Where does this door lead to? I don't think I remember seeing it before," Jason finished by looking at his sister quizzically, who just shrugged before reaching out and turning the handle.

Both siblings peered into the darkness curiously, before Jason found the light switch on the wall, causing them both to gasp as they saw the stairs that must have lead up to the roof of the school. Pushing and bickering, the two made their way up the stairs, each making numerous threats to call their mother and say they were being bullied, if the other didn't get out of their way.

Still bickering, the two eventually tumbled through the door, landing in a heap on the ground, before April huffed and pushed her little brother away from her, standing up and dusting herself off, before helping Jason up from the ground.

"Whoa," they both breathed out in the same breath, their eyes drinking in the wide variety of colours that stemmed from the many plants that created the roof top jungle.

"I've never seen this place before," Jason muttered, dazed as April sat down on the bench and continued to look around in shock, before her eye caught on a small carving on the wooden bench.

"Hey Jas," April called out, and Jason turned from admiring the view back to his sister, "I think I might have found something," April smiled again gently tracing the letters on the carving, and pointing them out to Jason when he approached her.

_G.M. loves T.B. forever…_

_Yeah, well T.B. loves G.M. soon to be G.B. forever and for always_

…_forever and for always._

Jason chuckled as he read the writing and traced the heart surrounding it, only Troy and Gabriella could have an argument over who loved who the most by carving it into a bench.

He looked around at the view once more before turning back to his sister and offering her his hand, "Come on April, I feel like we're intruding on their secrets by just being here," Jason grinned as his sister took his hand, and the two of them made their way down the stairs, closing the door on the roof top garden once more, until a certain couple could return together, to refresh their memories of their high school years together.

On his last day in Albuquerque, Jason and April walked into the stables that they had spent much of their childhood in and looked around grinning, as they realised that nothing had changed, even the same pictures hung on the wall of the gang, back from when they would always hang around the stables, either watching Gabriella practice, watching one of her shows, or helping her to groom her horse, Comet.

Resting happily in April's arms, Tommy suddenly made a loud cooing noise when an old dog and a woman approached the pair, looking shocked to see them again, "Jason and April Cross?" she asked tentatively and when they nodded, she shrieked and threw her arms around them, causing Tommy to shriek in indignation, from being caught between the two parties, "it's been too long since any of you young'uns were around these stables, what can I do for you today?" She grinned at them, obviously happy to see them again.

"Well Mrs. McFarren, we were hoping that you'd seen Gabriella actually?" Jason enquired, praying that she would have some indication of where his friend may be, but balling up his fists in frustration when the old lady shook her head gently.

"No sorry sweeties, I haven't heard word from Gabriella in over four weeks now, which is very unlike her I might add, she normally calls every day. But I do know that Comet has just been put up for a rider if you want to go and see him, a new girl to the stables is riding him today," Mrs. McFarren had barely finished her sentence before the Cross siblings had looked at one another and had bolted for where they knew Comet was kept. They both knew that Gabriella had left strict instructions with the stables not to let anyone but her family and friends ride Comet, and that the stables had a list of those who had been given the go ahead to ride him, so they were shocked to find that a so called new rider would be riding him, knowing also that Comet did not take to kindly to strangers.

Watching as Gabriella's horse Comet entered the ring, Jason immediately looked up and his eyes widened as they set upon Comet's rider, a petite young dark haired girl with long curls tied at the back as to keep them out of her way, and she rode around the ring with such a degree of elegance, that Jason had only ever seen it when he had watched Gabriella riding Comet.

The next thing he knew, he was sprinting away from his sister and Tommy, who had started to wail as his uncle ran past him, just a blur, April screaming at her younger brother to get back to the two of them, but Jason ignored her and kept racing for the entrance to the ring, knowing in his heart that he had finally found what they were all missing, "Gabriella," he yelled breathlessly as he neared the entrance to the ring, and swiftly bent over, his hands on his knees as he desperately attempted to get his breath back.

Simultaneously, on her last day in Chicago, Sharpay's breath was suddenly drawn from her as she glanced upon a young brunette curled up on a rock, facing Lake Michigan, as her head was buried deeply within her hands and she sobbed like nothing was going to be alright ever again in her life.

Sharpay shook her head silently and quietly moved towards the sobbing girl on the rock, slipping an arm around her shoulders…

**Hey guys, once again sorry for not updating in so long, but hopefully I will have the next update up over the next two or three days, also, that ends all of the friends in different places, so please review and tell me what you thought of it…**


	13. Chapter 13

Need You Now

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, thanks for all of your reviews! Anyway, here's chapter 13, and it's dedicated to Aniimechiick, for coming up with the idea of having Gabriella's P.O.V. please read and review, hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 13**

**Gabriella's P.O.V.**

Miserable. If somebody asked me to describe how I was feeling, and how I had been feeling for the last three and a half weeks, ever since _he_ came back into my life, that would be how I would describe myself. Miserable.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on them, ignoring the numbness that was spreading through my entire body from the intense cold that seemed to be all around me, especially as I was only wearing a thin top, why hadn't I thought of that before I came back here? I mean all of the clothes that I had brought with me were for a much warmer climate, not for the climate of the area that I had finally decided to settle in.

Looking out at what had at one time been my favourite view, I sighed softly as I watched two birds involved in a dance above the water, occasionally hitting off one another and found myself thinking of Troy and all of the others that I had left behind in my haste to get away from Rick.

I missed them all so much, they were after all, my family, the only real family that I had ever known, and leaving them left a hole in my heart, the tears now steadily pouring down my face, I picked up my cell phone from high school, the only one that I would allow myself to take with me, praying that by now, the gang would have all forgotten the number, or thought that I had gotten rid of the phone.

But I could never get rid of this phone, it had one of the only voice mails that I had ever saved onto it from my birth Mother, before she flipped out and started to bring men like Rick into our lives, but I scrolled straight past that voice mail, and found the one that I had been listening to, the one voice mail that had been on repeat from the very moment that I had landed in this city, the one voice mail I had with Troy's voice on it, even if it was from when we were only sixteen.

"_Hey Elle Belle! I miss you already and we only just landed in Florida, damn this is gonna be torture not being able to see you for two weeks, and on top of that being stuck with the old folkies for two weeks, please save me Ella! Anyway, I'm just ranting on to your voice mail, so call me back when you get this message Ella, and always remember that you are my world, and nothing could ever ever replace you in a million years. I love you Gabriella, forever and for always."_

Hearing Troy's voice, I suddenly couldn't take it anymore, I hated myself for leaving them, and I missed them more than life itself, the only reason that I hadn't ended it yet was due to the fact that I promised all of them long ago that I would never try and harm myself severely again, and after the amount of promises I had broken to them lately, I couldn't bring myself to break another.

I looked at my arms, shivering in the cold, and filled with goose bumps, the bruises all over them turning a yellowy colour, the bruises everywhere were starting to turn a yellowy colour, as they slowly healed, and the cuts all over my body had scabbed over, gradually healing again after Rick's latest attack, the memories however, were not healing, they were coming back stronger and stronger each night, I couldn't even remember the last time that I had had a decent nights sleep, probably the last time that I was in Troy's arms.

Feeling a sudden wave of nausea wrap around my entire being, I leant forward, and pushed my head into my hands as my whole body wracked with sobs, which were gradually getting louder, regardless of how many passers by there were.

I flinched only slightly when I felt the comforting arms wrap around me, but instantly recognising them, I sank into them, they had found me, there was no way I was going to escape again…

**Well that was chapter 13; you guys might be able to guess whose found Gabriella, but if not, the next chapter will be out shortly, please review and tell me what you thought…**


	14. Chapter 14

Need You Now

**Need You Now**

**Hey guys! Thanks for all of your reviews on the last chapter, glad that you liked it because I wasn't too sure about it when I wrote it, anyway, here's chapter 14, by the way, this chapter will be made longer by the numerous parts of other chapters that I've had to put in, as they all link together in this one, and some of the chapters were written quite a while back now, please read it and tell me what you think! Hope you enjoy it.**

**Chapter 14**

_Suddenly, Ryan's eyes widened and he jumped to his feet as he saw a young woman with a mass of dark curly hair, and started to sprint towards her as fast as he could, tripping over his own feet a number of times in the process as he cried out to her, "GABRIELLA…"_

Ryan couldn't believe it, after a week of searching everywhere and anywhere, all the secret little hideouts, the places that he had found in minutes, and the places that had taken him hours to find her in, it was the last place he looked that he actually managed to find Gabriella.

An unstoppable smile spread across his features as he continued on his sprint, if anything getting faster and faster as he crossed the beach.

Reaching Gabriella, he caught the back of her arms, and spun her around, ready to scream at her for leaving them, yet ready to hug her and never let her go all at the same time.

His eyes widened once more as he came face to face with a woman that he had no recognition of, and who looked back at him, just as startled, before starting to scream loudly, attracting the attention of most of the people on the beach, and causing Ryan's eardrums to split in two, even after years of hearing Sharpay's high pitched screaming and squealing.

Unexpectedly, a large, muscled man ran up to the woman and immediately enclosed her in a hug. "It's ok honey, I'm here now, what happened?" The man asked, looking at Ryan weirdly as his apparent girlfriend just pointed at Ryan and started whimpering on about how he was trying to kidnap her.

Seeing the fury flash in the guys' eyes, Ryan tried explaining himself, but gulped loudly when the guy put his girlfriend down and started to advance on Ryan. Thinking better of trying to explain himself anymore, Ryan swiftly turned and started to run back for his rental car, all too aware that the guy, who was at least twice the size of Ryan himself was directly behind him as he dove into the passengers side of the car, quickly locking the doors after himself and clambering into the drivers seat before speeding off, only to look behind and see the guy still standing there.

Ryan sped back to his hotel and grabbed his luggage quickly, heading off for the airport and vowing never to return to San Francisco again, at least not without lots of armed bodyguards.

_When the act was announced however, a sudden eager hush fell over the room, and everyone watched as she climbed onto the stage, the cousins' eyes all bugging out of their sockets the minute that they saw her. "Gabriella," Kelsi breathed out softly, almost dropping her drink…_

As soon as the show had ended, Kelsi and her cousins had rushed round to the stage exit door, desperate to get through to Gabriella, before she ran again, however, much to Kelsi's disappointment, it seemed that a lot of other groupies had had similar ideas, so it was hard for any of the cousins to get anywhere near to the front.

Nonetheless, two and a half hours later, when no one had come through the doors, everyone but the cousins had given up and gone home, so they were now all just sitting around outside the stage door, knowing that eventually, Gabriella would have to leave by them, so to pass the time, the musical family started to sing all of the different songs that had had them laughing for hours when they were younger.

Halfway through their rendition of 'if you're happy and you know it', of which Kelsi, Harry and Kimberly had been kicked out of for getting the actions wrong, the stage doors suddenly swung open, crashing into the wall behind them as a bleach blonde walked out, carrying a dress and chatting on her cell phone, glaring at the cousins as she walked past, and they listened in to her conversation.

"Yeah I know, can you believe it? I mean what idiots!" the blonde screeched into her phone, cackling the whole time, and the cousins slowly shuffled along the ground, hanging onto her every word, yet stopping and looking elsewhere every time she looked back at them. "Yeah, sorry, what were you saying? There's this bunch of freaks sat on the ground that keep looking at me," the blonde cackled again, and Kelsi swiftly tackled Tom to the ground, so that he couldn't kill the blonde. "Anyway, as I was saying before I got freaked out, I can't believe that all these dumb audiences are falling for it, I mean all it takes is a wig and some make up and I can pass for a so called latina girl, I mean how stupid can these audiences get?" With one last cackle, the blonde climbed into her car, and hurried off, still talking on her phone as the cousins looked at each other, each shocked to their cores that it had not been Gabriella.

Kelsi sighed, she should have known that it wasn't Gabriella all along, she knew that something was off when the singing was nowhere near as melodic and sweet as her friends usually was.

Heaving herself from the ground, Kelsi motioned for her cousins to follow her as she headed back for the car that would take them back to the apartment to grab Kelsi's stuff, and then to the airport, where she would inevitably be whisked off back to L.A., without Gabriella.

_Zeke came to a sudden standstill, his breath catching in his throat, as he noticed a young brunette sat on a bench opposite the enclosure, curls tied back into a loose bun with a few dangling over her face, face scrunched up in concentration, as her pencil worked magic across the sketchbook that sat in her lap, her concentration fully on the clouded leopards and a young girl that was studying them intently from the side of the enclosure. "Gabriella!" He yelled, waving his hands frantically at her, as he pushed people out of the way, in an attempt to get to the girl before she disappeared…_

As Zeke neared her, his arms still waving frantically and continuing to call her name, the girl suddenly looked up at him, her eyes widening dramatically, and pulling Zeke to another standstill, even if he had just reached the bench that she was sat on.

Bending over and putting one hand on his knee, holding the other one up to signal to give him just a minute, he heard a set of giggles from the girl, however, they weren't the giggles that he was used to, and when Zeke finally looked up again, he saw that he was looking into the face of a much younger girl, possibly around sixteen or seventeen, and his face immediately dropped as he felt his cheeks start to heat up, and the girl giggled again.

"You thought I was someone else, huh?" She asked, a grin permanently on her features as she looked up at Zeke who nodded gently, causing her to laugh again, "I'm Samantha, but I go by Sam," she grinned and held her hand out for him to shake, which Zeke gladly accepted.

"Zeke Baylor," he mumbled quietly, still embarrassed, and as he looked Sam over, he realised that she very well could have been Gabriella around the age of sixteen, maybe not quite as pretty as Gabriella had been, but still very similar, he just couldn't place what it was about her.

"Who's Gabriella, is she like your girlfriend or something?" Sam questioned curiously, as she stood up and the two started to walk towards the exit of the park.

Zeke scrunched up his face in disgust and the fact that if he had ever dared ask Gabriella out, troy would have killed him in a heartbeat, "No Sam, she isn't my girlfriend," he chuckled softly, and began to explain the whole story to Sam, including how Gabriella used to live in Washington D.C. and went to draw the animals, in particular the leopards on a regular basis, which is why he thought that she had been Gabriella.

"I think I remember a girl like that hanging around here when I was like nine, she was always drawing one animal or the other," Sam mused and Zeke looked at her in shock, "Yeah, actually, she was the one who got me into drawing in the first place," Sam smiled, obviously remembering something, "yeah, it was like seven years ago now, I was watching her draw, and when I asked to see, she showed me an amazing drawing of the leopard asleep on the tree, and when I told her that I wished that I could draw like that, she just grinned at me and told me that if I followed my heart, and that was truly what was in it, I could do anything, and so I started to draw, and found out that I could actually do it, but I haven't seen her around here for years now, I just wish that I could tell her thank you," Sam sighed and looked up at Zeke slightly, "Does it sound like her?"

Zeke nodded again before smiling, "That sounds exactly like something that Gabs would say, she's always been a real dreamer."

Sam's eyes lit up as she abruptly started to dig through her bag, "Hang on a minute, she gave me that picture of a leopard that she did that day, and I've kept it with me ever since, she signed it too," pulling a roll of paper out of her bag, Sam gave a triumphant smile, before handing the roll to Zeke, who unravelled it carefully.

He chuckled as he read the bottom, smiling as he glanced over the picture, "Always follow your dreams Sam, love Gabriella Montez," he read aloud from the bottom, before handing the picture back to an eager looking Sam, "Yep, that's Gabby alright," he grinned, before a loud shriek could be heard from across the car park, causing Sam to wince.

"Samantha, come on I haven't got all day!" the voice screamed.

"That's my sister, I better go before she gets into an even bigger mood," Sam smiled apologetically, and Zeke just chuckled softly.

"That's ok, she sounds quite like my girlfriend Sharpay," Zeke grinned one last time at Sam, before she nodded her head towards him, and flounced off towards her sisters voice, only to stop when she was about twenty feet away from him.

"HEY ZEKE!" she yelled, and Zeke had to turn around, again being reminded of Sharpay, "I hope you find Gabriella, she's a real nice person, and when you do, please tell her thanks from me as well," Sam told him honestly, before turning around and running for her car.

Zeke smiled one last time, before heading back for his own car, and driving off to the airport, ready to head home to L.A., only disappointed that he had not found Gabriella on his journey in Washington D.C.

_Suddenly, Taylor and Tess stopped eating, their mouths dropping as they looked at the person who had just walked up to the stage. A head of dark curly hair, tanned skin, wearing a knee length powder blue gypsy skirt and an off the shoulder powder blue top with ribbons. Both sisters' looked at each other, before turning back to the person in front of them, each rubbing their eyes before looking back at each other, if this had been any other time, the two of them would have laughed at how comical they looked. Simultaneously, the sisters' started to sprint for Gabriella, screaming her name as they did so…_

Reaching the stage where Gabriella had been stood only moments before, Taylor and Tess' eyes started to dart everywhere, looking for those all-important bouncing dark curls, or the swish of the long blue skirt.

Spying Gabriella at the entrance to the amphitheatre, Tess grabbed Taylor's hand, and the two of them started to jog for the entrance, only to come to a freezing halt, when a man walked up to Gabriella and picked her up from behind, spinning her around in circles as she laughed.

Taylor sighed, she'd know Gabriella's laugh anywhere, and it was definitely more infectious and musical than this impostor's laugh, and when the couple started to speak to each other in Spanish, Taylor knew instantly that the girl was not Gabriella, as although Gabriella was fluent in Spanish, Taylor knew from experience that she only spoke it when she was incredibly angry or upset. Also, when the girl turned around, Taylor could instantly see that her eyes were wider set apart than Gabriella's, her nose was slightly bigger, and her smile bared no comparison to Gabriella's, which could light up an entire room.

Tess wrapped a comforting arm around her younger sisters shoulders and gently guided her back towards the car, so that she could get Taylor home and prepare her for her long flight later that evening.

_Sighing, Chad looked around, noticing many couples and young families talking and laughing, children running around gleefully, bringing a smile to his face, before his gaze caught on a young woman, her dark curls blowing in the wind as she watched the goings on in the harbour, and with the people on the hill. Silently, Chad moved towards her, knowing that he had found his little sister finally…_

Chad grinned as he reached Gabriella and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Sure is a beautiful view, isn't it Briella?" He grinned, turning his head to look at the young woman next to him, and jumping out of his skin when he saw that the woman stood next to him was not his little sister, and was at least in her forties.

Suddenly two kids ran up to them and latched onto the woman's legs, as Chad sprung back, staring at her still, repetitively blinking, just to make sure for definite that she was indeed not Gabriella.

"Mom, who's this scary man?" the little blonde girl questioned, and instantly the woman bent down and picked up the two kids, obviously around four or five years old.

"Yeah aunt Sylvie, who is it? His hair looks funny," the dark haired little boy said, crowing with laughter as Chad subconsciously patted his hair.

"I don't know guys, but we're going to leave him alone now, because we don't know where he's come from, or if he's dangerous," the woman, Sylvie stated, as she slowly backed up and put the two kids down, her gaze never leaving Chad, who had his hands held up in apologies.

The woman suddenly whipped around, noticing that the two young children had run off, "Gabriella Harrison and Troy Klein get back here this instant," she roared, and Chad had to suppress a laugh as she rushed away with the young children.

"Well if that isn't a sign, I don't know what is," he whispered as he turned back to the view and buried his hands into his jacket pockets, "Troy and Gabriella are destined to be together," he whispered again, looking up at the sky, before sighing softly and heading to his car to meet Chuckey at the rental car shop, before heading for his flight home to L.A.

_Groaning again, Troy's attention was suddenly caught on the petite Latina girl stood next to him, and his breath caught in his throat as he looked at a duplicate of his fiancée, however, when she smiled at him, Troy knew straight away that this girl did not have the sparkle in her eye that his Ella always had when she smiled, so he shook his head softly, frowning and turned his attention back to the skyline, praying that someone, somewhere had found Gabriella, or at least she was safe…_

Troy sighed softly as he finished packing his bags once more and looked around his hotel room, making sure that he hadn't forgotten any of his possessions, before closing the door silently behind him, and heading down to reception to check out and order a taxi.

Stepping into the taxi only twenty minutes later, a horrible feeling of déjà vu fell over Troy, and he silently prayed that one of the others had found his fiancée, and had just somehow forgotten to call him.

Fingering the engagement ring that he was carrying round in his jeans pocket, Troy had to smile as he remembered when he finally had the courage to ask the love of his life to marry him. He hadn't meant to propose when he had, but in reality, it had been a perfect time, and he already had the ring on him, he had just wanted to wait for a few hours later when they could be alone.

**Flashback**

"**And now, I give you the class of 2008," Principal Matsui's voice was drowned out by the loud cheering and all of the red hats that were suddenly flying into the air.**

"**CONGRATULATIONS WILDCAT!" Troy heard Gabriella yell, before she latched herself onto him, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissed him, still grinning, her eyes wide with excitement as she pulled back, and he chuckled slightly, folding his hands underneath her, so that she didn't have to get down.**

"**Congratulations to you to Elle Belle," he grinned, excited but nowhere near as excited as his girlfriend was.**

"**Can you believe it?" She giggled, "We finished High School! We're graduates, Oh my G-d we're graduates," she muttered, looking as though she had only just realised this fact, and causing Troy to laugh at how cute she looked.**

"**Marry me," he suddenly blurted out, his eyes widening as he become conscious of the words that had just come from his mouth, as her head snapped up, and she stared at him wide eyed, as a sudden hush fell around the room.**

"**Wh-what?" Gabriella stuttered, still attached to Troy with her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.**

**He gulped and raised his head to meet her eyes, "Marry me Gabriella, become my wife, spend the rest of your life with me, let me love you every single day until we die, as much, if not more than I already love you now," Troy whispered softly, resting his forehead against hers as he saw the tears spring to her eyes, still gazing intently into them.**

**Slowly she started to nod her head, "Yes," she choked out, and he grinned at her shaky smile, before swooping in to capture her lips in a kiss, both of them smiling.**

**The couple froze, breaking apart and bursting into laughter, Troy slowly slipping the ring onto Gabriella's finger, as they saw all of their family, friends, classmates and teachers dancing around and celebrating for the newly engaged couple, East High's golden couple had graduated to the next phase in their relationship, as well as graduating from high school.**

**And there, in the middle of the East High gym, where they had shared their first kiss, played so many games of basketball together and hung out daily, Troy and Gabriella had gotten engaged.**

**End Flashback**

Troy smiled sadly as he remembered the story and looked up at the New York sky for the very last time on his trip, "I'll find you Gabriella, I promised to love you every day, and I will find you. I love you Ella, always and forever," he whispered gently, before clambering into the back of the taxi, and telling the driver to head for the airport, ready to get home to L.A., and discuss the options with his other friends, including the one of going worldwide in their search.

_Watching as Gabriella's horse Comet entered the ring, Jason immediately looked up and his eyes widened as they set upon Comet's rider, a petite young dark haired girl with long curls tied at the back as to keep them out of her way, and she rode around the ring with such a degree of elegance, that Jason had only ever seen it when he had watched Gabriella riding Comet. The next thing he knew, he was sprinting away from his sister and Tommy, who had started to wail as his uncle ran past him, just a blur, April screaming at her younger brother to get back to the two of them, but Jason ignored her and kept racing for the entrance to the ring, knowing in his heart that he had finally found what they were all missing, "Gabriella," he yelled breathlessly as he neared the entrance to the ring, and swiftly bent over, his hands on his knees as he desperately attempted to get his breath back…_

Looking up once more, he saw that the girl on the horse had trotted back to the entrance to the ring, and was looking at him in amusement.

Gently he reached up and started to pet Comet softly, before studying the girl once more, and realising that it was not Gabriella, Gabriella looked more elegant when she was on Comet, and had better posture, plus when he latched onto her eyes, he saw that they were green, not the espresso ones he was used to, they also didn't hold the sheer determination that Gabriella's own eyes held.

He sighed as he looked up at the girl, "Sorry, I thought you were someone else," he muttered softly, looking up to see that the girl was still watching him intently.

"You thought I was Gabs, right?" she questioned timidly and Jason nodded, slightly confused as to how the girl knew Gabriella.

"I'm Carla, Chad and Gabriella's next door neighbour," Carla explained, obviously seeing his confusion, "Gabs gave me permission to ride Comet whenever I wanted the last time she was down here, she said that he needed someone to ride him daily, and I had nothing better to do, where is she anyway, I thought that she was coming down here as soon as school ended for her in L.A.?"

Jason nodded gently, "That was the plan, but it was changed after something happened, and now we're trying to find her."

The girl looked at him solemnly, "Oh, well when you do find her, can you tell her thanks from me, and that Comet and I miss her?" She asked softly, and Jason nodded, the first real smile of the day crossing his features as he wondered just how many lives Gabriella had really had a significant impact on.

Jason sighed once more and walked back to his sister April dejectedly as she slung one arm around his shoulders and looked back at the girl that they both just thought was Gabriella Montez, before turning to her younger brother once more, "Come on kiddo, we better get you to the airport before you miss your flight back to L.A." April smiled at Jason and even laughed slightly when he glared at her for calling him kiddo, as she had done so many times during their childhood, simply to irritate him, before she motioned for him to get into the car, and took off towards the airport.

_On her last day in Chicago, Sharpay's breath was suddenly drawn from her as she glanced upon a young brunette curled up on a rock, facing Lake Michigan, as her head was buried deeply within her hands and she sobbed like nothing was going to be alright ever again in her life. Sharpay shook her head silently and quietly moved towards the sobbing girl on the rock, slipping an arm around her shoulders…_

"Sharpay," the girl whispered out, and buried herself deeply into Sharpay's side as Sharpay's arms wrapped around the freezing girl, who was finally safely back inside with her, and she started to cry her own tears of relief that she had finally found Gabriella, and she hadn't tried to run away again.

Taking off her jacket, Sharpay gently wrapped it around Gabriella's shoulder's noticing that her lips were slowly starting to turn blue from the cold. "Jeez Gabs, you sure as hell know how to keep us all on our toes don't you," Sharpay smiled softly as she gently kissed the girl who was more like her little sister than anything else on the top of her head, and wordlessly pulled her up from the rock, tenderly pulling her along the path to the Starbucks that she had recently become addicted to.

Standing outside the coffee shop, Sharpay tried to tug Gabriella inside the Starbucks, but stopped when she saw a slight glimmer in Gabriella's eyes, "Gabs what's wrong?" She questioned, still keeping a tight hold on Gabriella's arm, terrified that she would run off again.

"The gang banned us from caffeine a long time ago Shar, you know that," Gabriella smiled and Sharpay grinned when she saw the laughter light up in her friends eyes once more.

Sharpay chuckled and wrapped her arm around Gabriella's shoulders, "Come on, just this once," she pleaded, giving her best friend the puppy dog look, but Gabriella just folded her arms and shook her head, "Fine then, what about a frappuccino?" she tried again, and Gabriella paused for a second before shaking her head once more, and Sharpay pouted, before she had a brilliant idea, "What about hot chocolate?" She grinned wickedly, especially when Gabriella's entire face lit up, and she practically dragged Sharpay into the Starbucks herself.

Sat at the table and sipping their drinks occasionally, the two girls were each studying each other, drinking in the appearance of their friend after not seeing them for three weeks.

"You look like hell," Gabriella observed, glancing over Sharpay's un-straightened hair pulled back into a bun, a hairband keeping it off her face, her tracksuit bottoms, her hoodie and her trainers, not your typical Sharpay outfit.

"Yeah well if I hadn't been chasing you all over Chicago, I wouldn't look like this would I," Sharpay snapped, her anger pouring out in those few venomous words, as Gabriella looked down at her hands guiltily.

"I'm sorry Shar," she whispered softly, and Sharpay's heart broke a little more with the pain in her best friends words.

"It's ok Boo, I shouldn't have just taken that out on you, but why did you run? Why didn't you just come to one of us?" She asked softly, her gaze catching on Gabriella's, feeling her own tears prick in her eyes, "I mean we would have done anything to help."

"That's exactly why I ran Sharpay," Gabriella breathed out softly, looking away, but quickly meeting Sharpay's gaze again, worried that she'd leave, but knowing that she'd have to explain herself when she saw Sharpay's confusion. "My biggest fear in this world Sharpay is losing one of you guys, I just don't know what the hell I'd do without any of you, and I didn't want you to get hurt because of me, so I figured that if I left, you'd all hopefully be safe," Gabriella chuckled dryly, shaking her head lightly, "I should've known that you idiots would just ignore my note and come find me anyway."

"Yeah you should've," Sharpay agreed, and the two girls looked at each other, before bursting into laughter.

"Speaking of everyone else, where are they? Are they here too?" Gabriella queried, looking at Sharpay's Cheshire cat grin with true confusion in her eyes.

"Well Boo, we had no idea where you were, so we each took a city, and now we're all over the country," Sharpay grinned at the shocked expression on Gabriella's face, "We love you too damn much to let you go Gabriella, so we had to do something."

"I love you guys too," Gabriella smiled, still shocked that they had actually spread out over the country, just to find her.

Sitting in the small Starbucks, Sharpay whipped out her pink cell phone and grinned at Gabriella, who smiled slightly back at her, and looked towards Sharpay, their eyes joining, Sharpay seeking Gabriella's approval, as her finger hovered above the buttons.

As soon as Gabriella gave Sharpay a slight nod, Sharpay's fingers started working double speed, calling seven numbers simultaneously.

When the whole gang had picked up their ringing phones, Sharpay grinned once more at Gabriella, before saying the five words that the gang had all longed to hear for the past three weeks, "Guys, I'm bringing her home…"

**Hey guys, well that was Chapter 14, sorry it's so long, but there were a lot of lose ends to tie up, anyway, chapter 15 should be out soon, but in the mean time, please review and tell me what you thought…**


	15. Chapter 15

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, thanks for all of your reviews on the last chapter, glad you liked it! Anyway, here's chapter 15, please read and review. Hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 15**

When their flight finally landed, Sharpay instantly stood up, complaining of sore legs and not being in first class, only to look back down and see Gabriella sitting in the seat still staring straight ahead, her hands gripping onto the armrests as her knuckles turned white under the force of her grip.

"Gabriella," Sharpay whispered sinking back into the seat and gently pushing that one stubborn lock of Gabriella's hair behind her ear, "Boo are you alright?" Sharpay questioned, concerned as tears started to roll down her best friends face once more.

"What if they all hate me Shar?" She questioned, still staring straight ahead. "I mean I've caused them all so much pain over the last few years, especially Troy, oh G-d Troy," Gabriella whimpered, burying her face in her hands as Sharpay swooped across the seat, to be nearer to Gabriella and grabbed her friend in a tight embrace, as Gabriella's whole body shook with tears.

"Boo, none of us could ever hate you, I don't know how any of us would survive without you," Sharpay smiled again, gently taking Gabriella's hand into her own and squeezing it gently. "But you need to try and stay strong for us, and I promise that I will always be here for you, and so will the rest of the idiots, who are all waiting in that airport for the arrival of their princess, now come on," Sharpay whispered, beaming when she heard Gabriella's soft chuckle, before pulling softly, yet firmly on Gabriella's arm and leading her off of the plane and into the airport.

Reaching the main part of the airport, where Sharpay knew they were meeting everyone else, she looked at Gabriella with concern when she saw that the brunettes head was down and the tears were continuing to fall from her eyes onto the hard floor, as she wracked with silent sobs, mumbling quietly to herself. Sharpay frowned slightly and moved so that she was stood in front of Gabriella, gently lifting Gabriella's head so that there eyes instantly connected.

"Gabriella, Gabriella listen to me," Sharpay stated firmly, resting her hands on the shoulders of her friend who was now hyperventilating through her sobs, "Boo, Troy loves you, he will always love you, no matter what the two of you do, or where you are, you will always love each other, that much has been apparent from the first time we all saw you together," Sharpay grinned lopsidedly at Gabriella and brushed the last few of her tears away, "Even I could see your love when I was trying to break you up, but I had to test the waters and see, you two presented me with the biggest challenge I've ever had, you didn't let me get exactly what I wanted when I wanted it, and believe me I've learnt from my parents and Ryan that that takes a lot of willpower," Sharpay grinned once more and pulled Gabriella in for a tight hug, as Gabriella's musical laughter rang out around them both, infecting Sharpay and causing her to laugh as well, before freezing suddenly and breaking out into an enormous grin when she spotted what she had been looking for since she had entered the airport over Gabriella's shoulder, and drew away from her friend, still grinning manically.

Troy wandered through the airport, his eyes darting from side to side as he looked for all of his friends, but most importantly one very special girl, as they had figured out that there flights were all landing within minutes of each other.

He jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see a beaming Chad, "Miss me Captain?" Chad questioned, laughter dancing through his features at the still stunned look on his best friends face.

"Like a hole in the head Chad," Troy murmured back sarcastically, his eyes narrowing as Chad just grinned once more.

However, when Chad looked over Troy's shoulder, any witty comebacks that he had planned just flew out of his head and he released a long breath that he had had no idea he was even holding.

Grabbing Troy's hand, that was now waving in front of Chad's face, trying to find any life at all in his best friend, Chad spun Troy around so they were both looking the same way, and Troy instantly dropped his bag, causing Chad to yelp and jump back when it landed on his foot.

"Gabriella," Troy breathed out, his eyes widening at the sight of his one and only love, and although he had only whispered her name, Gabriella heard him as though he had been speaking through a microphone with speakers turned up to full blast.

She slowly turned around, praying that his voice was not what it had been for the last three weeks, a dream, only a memory drowning in her dreams.

Sapphire eyes locked onto chocolate ones, and as the gang all watched from their various points of moving closer together from around the terminal, Troy started to sprint full speed towards Gabriella, and she to him, neither showing any signs of stopping at all as they neared one another.

The two bodies soon collided with each other, he having a vice grip around her waist as he buried his head into her hair, desperate to relive her scent once more, as her arms flew up around his neck, her face burying deeply into his chest, as the two moulded back into one, the way they belonged, causing the girls to all start crying as they neared the couple, and the guys to grin as they picked up the couples discarded luggage, as they moved towards their friends.

Troy drew back from Gabriella's hair, and used both of his hands to gently pull her face away from his body, as he littered her face with kisses re-memorising everything about her, and gently kissing away her tears as they cascaded down her cheeks.

"Don't you ever do that to me again Gabriella," Troy murmured, lovingly yet sternly, his forehead resting on hers, as she gently closed her eyes and he felt her nod, his hands still placed firmly on her cheeks, brushing her hair from her face.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," Gabriella sobbed quietly, as her eyes reopened and once again locked with Troy's as he shook his head, taking hers with him in the movement, as though they were attached to each others foreheads.

"Don't Elle, this wasn't your fault, it was his, and I never ever want to hear you blaming yourself ever, I love you so damn much that it hurts Gabriella, and I am never ever going to let you go again," Troy whispered against her lips, and she was sure that she could hear a low growling noise emitted from his throat when he mentioned Rick, even though he did not even say his name, as though neither of them could bring themselves to mention the criminals name.

"I love you more than anything in this universe too Troy," Gabriella whispered back, her eyes raising to meet his once more as they filled up with happiness, love and relief once more and he grinned, swooping down to capture her lips in a sensational kiss as the others still looked on, the guys looking disgusted when the joyful couple still hadn't come up for air after five minutes.

Chad grinned as he looked over at his belongings and spied the basketball that he had taken with him to Baltimore, leaning over, he grabbed it and aimed it for the couple that were still locking lips, before he heard someone clear their throat, and looked to his left to see all of the girls stood in a line with their arms folded and expressions that basically said if he threw that ball, he was dead, while the guys stood behind them, sniggering at Chad who looked like a naughty school child caught snapping the crayons.

Chad looked back and forth between the blissful couple and the girls, and shrugging slightly, he prepared to run as he threw the ball and it bounced off Troy's head, causing him to immediately release Gabriella and look around for the culprit.

Chad heard a low hiss and gulped as he looked up to see the girls all glaring at him, Taylor and Sharpay going redder by the second, as he gave a sudden girlish scream, and took off running around the airport, the three girls hot on his heels, while Gabriella hugged Troy, each supporting the other from falling over with laughter, and the guys all held onto everyone's baggage, with tears of laughter streaming down their faces.

"CHAD MICHAEL DANFORTH YOU GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!" Sharpay screamed with rage as she chased after him, waving her heels around in the air with a vengeance.

"How the hell can they run so fast?" Chad asked, gasping for breath as he ran around the others, still evading the angry mob, "And in high heels as well," he shrieked as he looked at Taylor and Kelsi's feet, before taking off on another lap around the airport, the girls closing on him all the time.

"Some things never change do they?" Gabriella choked out between her laughter and her tears, as she still held tightly onto Troy who was shaking hard from laughter.

"Nope," he chuckled, "Chad's still Chad, always will be the idiot he has been since birth," Troy grinned as Chad ran past them again, glaring at Troy.

"HEY! I resent that!" He yelled, before running off again as Sharpay caught up, hitting him with her shoes and setting the whole group off again.

"Ella," Troy muttered, catching Gabriella's chin with his fingers and lifting her face so they were eye to eye once more, seriousness returning to his face and voice, "You're going to have to tell me what happened between you and him, you know and we're going to have to go back to the police again."

Gabriella nodded, but pulled her chin out of his grasp, "I know and I will Troy," she lifted her head again, and Troy's heart broke when he saw tears in her eyes again, along with the pain and terror that he knew he could do nothing about, "But not here ok?" she asked and was relieved when he nodded, planting a kiss on her forehead, both of their heads shooting up when they heard a sudden shriek and looked up to see Chad backed into a corner, all three girls with their heels now ready to strike him, "Besides, right now I think we should probably go and rescue my brother from the homicidal bridesmaids," she beamed and tugged on his hand, as a grin broke out on his face, realising that she still wanted to get married, even after everything, and the two of them ran over to help the guys pull three bloodthirsty women away from Chad, who was digging his hole even deeper by telling them it was just too tempting an opportunity to miss…

**Well guys, they're back together again, but what more drama could happen with Rick still out there? Not to mention Gabriella's father…**


	16. Chapter 16

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, sorry for not updating for a while, my exam timetable just kicked in with a vengeance, but I only have one left to go now, so I should hopefully be able to update more often. Anyway, thanks for all of the reviews on the last chapter, here's chapter 16, please read and review, and I hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 16**

Finally managing to pull the girls' away from Chad, although they each had to be held onto by their boyfriends, and Taylor by Ryan, or they were instantly trying to kill him again, Troy looked down, and noticed that the small brunette, who fit so perfectly into his arms, was looking extremely sleepy, her eyes drooping, and he could tell that she was desperately trying to suppress a yawn, which made him laugh at just how innocent she looked, and immediately, her eyes flew up to meet his, and he smiled at her slightly, before lifting her up, and transferring her so that she was getting a piggy back, his smile growing as Gabriella subconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, and lay her head on his shoulder, her eyes finally closing as she dozed on her fiancées shoulder, the rest of the gang helping with the couples bags, as they moved over to wait for the taxi that would take them back to the girls' apartment, just thankful that Gabriella was finally home and safely in their reach once more.

Reaching the apartment, Gabriella was instantly awake and alert again, making Troy laugh with her antics as she bounced up and down in her seat, desperate to be out of the confinements of the taxi and into the place where she belonged.

As soon as the taxi pulled to a stop Gabriella had flung open the door, and was charging into the apartment building at a hundred miles an hour, the other girls hurrying after her, leaving Troy and the others guys with all of the luggage and the taxi fare to pay.

When the guys finally reached the apartment, after a lot of huffing and cursing on all of their parts, they entered to find all of the girls in their sleepwear, except for Gabriella, who was wearing Troy's old Wildcats basketball jersey, and a pair of his old basketball shorts. Sharpay, Taylor and Kelsi were watching Gabriella like three mothers, whose children had just started to walk, and needed to be watched constantly to make sure they weren't in danger, Gabriella meanwhile, was currently pacing around the front room, jabbering to someone quickly on the phone, obviously trying to calm whoever it was down.

"Who's on the phone?" Chad asked, confusion flooding all of the guys as they realised how late it was for someone to be phoning, Chad and Jason each taking the mugs of coffee silently from their girlfriends, and taking a drink of it.

"It's your Mom," Taylor answered back with a smile, gently kissing Chad on the lips, to show that he was forgiven for his earlier activities, before snatching her coffee back from him, much to Chad's dismay.

In that same moment, Gabriella ended the call, and let out a groan of frustration as she threw the phone down into the couch and slumped backwards into Troy's arms. "Our parents are coming for a visit," she informed Chad with a sigh, before turning to Troy, "So are yours."

It was all of the guys turn to groan loudly at this, knowing that they would now have to clean up their dump of an apartment, or face their parents moving to L.A., and being forced to move back in with them, on the other hand, the girls were all laughing, imaging the boys attempting to clean up the hell hole of an apartment that they had made in the three years that they had lived there, knowing full well that there would be dirty clothes all over their bedrooms, week old empty pizza boxes and take out cartons everywhere, along with sports equipment dumped anywhere and everywhere along with stacks of dirty plates piled a mile high in the kitchen, hence the reason that they usually hung out at the girls' apartment.

"Ella," Troy muttered, suddenly turning serious, "Are you going to tell us what happened between you and him?" he questioned softly, pulling Gabriella closer to him, as the whole gangs attention suddenly caught on the couple.

Gabriella could feel her heart racing, and her breathing begin to get erratic as she remembered exactly why she had left L.A. in the first place, quickly jumping up from Troy and rushing to her bathroom, throwing up the only food that she had eaten that day, before shakily brushing her teeth and heading back into her own room, feeling anger course through her veins that just the thought of _Rick _could do something like this to her.

"Troy Bolton!" Gabriella scolded as she turned around to look at her fiancée, who was now standing meekly in the doorway to her bedroom, suddenly embarrassed. "Troy, just because I'm out of your line of sight doesn't mean I'm gonna disappear again," Gabriella whispered softly, her face softening as soon as she had turned around to see the confused young basketball star, gently, she lifted his chin so that his sapphire eyes once again locked onto her chocolate ones, "I made that mistake once already Bolton, and I'm not gonna make it again, never ever," she whispered as he leant his head down onto hers.

"Promise?" Troy asked in a shaky voice, making him sound like a little lost boy, and immediately Gabriella felt a sense of guilt for ever having left him in the first place.

"I promise," she stated, before reaching up onto her tiptoes and kissing along his jaw line, subsequently she turned her head and their lips were instantly tangled together in the sweetest kiss imaginable.

The couple sprang apart however when a sudden flash lit up the room, and turned to see a smug looking Sharpay.

"SHARPAY!" They yelled simultaneously, and immediately the blonde girl's eyes widened, as she became a picture of innocence.

"Well I am sorry, but you two just looked so cute that I had to have a picture," she smiled sickly sweet at them before turning and flouncing out of the room, yelling for the other girls to come and see her newly caught picture of the married couple to be, and leaving behind a groaning Troy and Gabriella.

"Well, I suppose she always did say that she would get us back for dropping that water balloon out of your window onto her head last year," Troy huffed folding his arms across his chest as he looked down at Gabriella, a smirk having covered her pretty features as she nodded her head in approval.

"Classic," the petite young woman grinned, before squealing as Troy unexpectedly picked her up, swinging her around before depositing her on the bed and crawling in beside her, an enormous beam covering his features.

"Classic it may have been Miss Elle Belle, but right now we have had a hectic few weeks and we really need to get some sleep," He smiled softly at her as she shook her head in protest, but his point was reinforced when Gabriella herself let out a wide yawn, that she could no longer keep in, causing Troy to chuckle softly, and open up his arms to her, which Gabriella instantly fell into.

Troy instinctively pulled Gabriella as close to him as humanely possible, and when she tucked her head neatly under his chin, he couldn't help but sigh in contentment, kissing her silently on the head, before slipping his hands gently inside of his old basketball jersey, so that he could rub the smooth skin on her back comfortingly as he gently sang to her, drifting away in his arms as they had done for so many years now.

"I love you Ella," he whispered peacefully, assuming that she was already asleep.

"And I love you Wildcat, but shut up and sing me to sleep," Gabriella muttered sleepily, and Troy chuckled once more before kissing the top of her head again and resuming singing to her.

Troy was abruptly awoken to Gabriella's screams of pain and terror and quickly rolled over, engulfing her in a tight hug as she thrashed around, sobbing in her sleep, the tears streaming down her face like mini waterfalls.

Minutes later, the whole gang burst threw the door, each in their nightwear and brandishing baseball bats or rolled up magazines, but Troy looked at them weirdly before softly shaking his head at them, his face filled with sorrow, and the whole gang instantly released what they were holding, hurrying to Troy's side, and noticing that Gabriella was still asleep, despite her constant screaming and moving, reminding the gang of the days when they would all hurry from their homes in the dead of the night after that one code word was uttered from Chad's mouth over the phone.

"Yellow," Troy whispered, his gaze never leaving the gang as he pulled Gabriella even closer to him, resting his head on top of hers and gently singing 'Tell Her' by Jesse McCartney to her, in an attempt to calm the hysterical sleeping girl down.

The gang all looked at him, horrified, before Taylor managed to speak the words everyone had been thinking, "They're back…"

**Well guys, that was chapter 16, sorry it's been so long since i last updated, please review and tell me what you thought about it!**


	17. Chapter 17

Need You Now

**Need You Now**

**Hey guys, thanks for your reviews on the last chapter, anyway, here's chapter 17, hope you enjoy it! Please read it and tell me what you think of it.**

**Chapter 17**

The next morning, a very confused Gabriella had woken up to find eight different bodies littered around her bedroom.

Troy of course was lying next to her, his arms wrapped compactly around her waist, Sharpay was lying across the bottom of the bed, her face buried deeply into the covers as she mumbled incoherently to herself, Zeke was asleep on the floor beside his girlfriend, holding her hand which dangled over the edge of the bed, whereas Jason and Kelsi were passed out by the balcony doors, leaning back onto them, with Jason's arm wrapped securely around Kelsi's shoulder as he pulled her tighter to him, Taylor and Chad had taken over the couch in Gabriella's room, Taylor sleeping on top of Chad, her face hidden in his chest as his arms held her firmly in place, and poor Ryan had drawn the short end of the deal again, looking uncomfortably squashed up in the corner next to the door, his hat pulled down over his face.

Gabriella gently pushed Troy's arms off of her, laughing softly when he started to mutter to himself, his brow furrowing in confusion as he grasped the now empty air beside him when she sat up.

Looking around the room, Gabriella's confusion grew even more, as she realised that the last time that the whole gang had ended up like this in her room was their last ever night of living in Albuquerque, before they had moved out to L.A., for college, and that had only been because one of her infamous nightmares had surfaced that night, but since arriving in L.A., the dreams had been dormant, so she had no idea what the whole gang were doing in her room, and she knew the only way to get the answers to her questions would be to wake up the gang, which could only be done in one specific way.

Two minutes later, all eight bodies were suddenly sat bolt upright, Sharpay falling off of the end of the bed onto Zeke, from sitting up to fast, and all of them were worriedly looking at Gabriella, who was currently releasing a blood curdling scream, once again, but as far as they could all see, she was wide awake this time.

Noticing that they were finally all up, and had all moved so that they were sat around her bed, Gabriella blinked her dark orbs a few times as she studied all of her friends faces, who looked worried beyond belief, and leaned back onto Troy, letting out a small sigh herself, "Good morning guys, now would you please mind telling me what you're doing in my room at this time in the morning, and asleep?" She questioned, true confusion lacing threw her features as the gang all looked at one another, before looking back at Troy to explain, who rolled his eyes in response, to them all looking at him to answer once more, but smiled at the petite brunette, as she turned her head upwards, from its resting point on his chest, to study his face.

"What do you remember about last night Ella?" Troy asked, gently stroking the side of Gabriella's face with one of his fingers as her brow furrowed once more as she tried to remember.

"Well, I came in here, you followed and then Pay took that picture of us kissing," Sharpay grinned, glad that Gabriella could remember her payback, "and then you picked me up, and said it was time to got to sleep, and that's what we did," Gabriella finished by eyeing up each one of her friends, noticing how each of them had their eyes bulging in disbelief, "What?" she asked, nervous and curious all at the same time.

"Gabs, do you not remember like three am this morning?" Kelsi asked as she slowly reached across to take her friends hand and Gabriella once more shook her head in mystification.

Chad gulped slightly before taking the plunge and telling Gabriella what had gone on earlier that morning, "Sis, your nightmares came back, as bad as ever, you were screaming so loud I'm surprised Mom and Dad didn't call from back home in New Mexico," Chad smiled at Gabriella softly, as she stared back at her slightly older brother, mulling over what he had just said.

"They're really back?" She whispered fearfully, tears filling her eyes as everyone around her nodded, and she turned swiftly to bury her head in Troy's chest as the sobs took control of her body and Troy's arms held her tightly to him, kissing the top of her head gently, before laying his head on top of hers.

"Nothing's ever gonna happen to you again Gabriella, never," Troy murmured, pulling her closer.

"Do you promise?" Gabriella enquired inaudibly, sounding like a very young, frightened child, her voice muffled by Troy's chest as she gradually brought her head out, and looked at everyone surrounding her, who would easily give their lives to protect her.

"Promise," the gang all muttered simultaneously, their eyes never once leaving Gabriella's face.

Later that morning, the girls had decided that they and more specifically, Gabriella, needed some retail therapy, to get their minds off of the last few weeks, much to the guys horror, when they had found all of their girlfriends, bar Gabriella, sifting through their wallets for money, saying that they needed extra cash, and pulling the puppy dog pout that none of the guys could resist, whereas Troy practically had to beg Gabriella to take some of his money, to buy herself a new present from him.

Two and a half hours later, the girls had exhausted thirty-five shops, all in the hope of finding Sharpay a new dress, and to say that Gabriella, Taylor and Kelsi were feeling, well, exhausted, was an understatement.

Watching Sharpay model yet another bright pink dress, and feeling the colour become burned permanently into her retinas, Gabriella suddenly had a smart idea, of course that was nothing uncommon, but as tired as she was, she was just thankful that any thoughts had come along, "Pay, I really like that dress, I think it's the best one yet," Gabriella smiled, buttering Sharpay up as she ignored the death glares that she was earning herself from the other two girls. "But you know, I really need some fresh air, so if you guys don't mind, I'm going to take a walk along the beach, and I'll meet you at the restaurant in like a half hour with the guys?" Gabriella finished meekly, her words jumbling together as they all attempted to escape from her mouth at once, trying not to meet their gazes, as she knew that she still wasn't fully trusted not to run off again.

"I don't know G, I mean if something happened to you…" Kelsi trailed off with a shudder as she looked up at Gabriella, and Taylor and Sharpay voiced their agreement with her.

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella sighed, "Come on guys, I am a big girl now, you don't have to hold my hand all the time," the girls couldn't help but laugh at Gabriella's sarcastic wit, finally returning, "I mean, I've lived in this city for three years now, and if it makes you any happier, I'll stick to heavily populated areas, plus I already made the mistake of my life leaving you guys once, I'm highly unlikely to do it again, especially when I promised my parents and Troy that I wouldn't," Gabriella voiced, sounding like a teenager trying to bribe her parents into letting her stay out later.

Thinking it over for a second, Sharpay suddenly gave a sharp, swift nod, "Fine Boo, you make a good point. But I swear to G-d if you are not at that restaurant by the time we are, I will hunt you down and kick your butt, capiche? Plus there is one minor detail."

"Capiche," Gabriella grinned, although it quickly fell from her face when she finally registered the last little thing that Sharpay had said, "What's the catch though?" She questioned suspiciously.

Sharpay just smiled, as she engulfed Gabriella in a tight embrace, "You may have promised your parents and Bolton that you wouldn't run off again Boo, but please promise me too, just so that we have extra extra back up," Sharpay smiled as pulled away, and tucked a lock of Gabriella's hair behind her ear, studying the young woman's face.

"I promise Pay," Gabriella beamed back, before erupting into squeals, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She shrieked, much like Sharpay herself, before grabbing her jacket, and hurrying from the store as Sharpay picked up another dress to try on, and Taylor and Kelsi slumped down in their seats, each mentally threatening to kill Gabriella, for not getting them out of dress shopping with Sharpay.

Walking down the sidewalk, Gabriella smiled to herself as she lifted her head and felt the sun on her face, as the crashing of the waves gently soothed her, and the strong salty smell of the ocean filled her nose, it sure was great to be home, she smiled, before realising that she had wandered a little too far, instantly panicking when she saw herself surrounded by old, empty warehouses, with no other people or cars anywhere in sight.

She gulped, and quickly turned around, ready to start running back the way that she had come, desperate to find civilisation again, when she heard the loud squeal of tires on the road from behind her, and turned around to see a black BMW with tinted windows barrelling down the street, straight towards her.

Gabriella tried to run, but realised that her attempts were futile, as the car swiftly swerved in front of her, and the passenger door was swung open, two large hands reaching out to grab Gabriella, before she even had a chance to scream…

**Well that was chapter 17, hopefully chapter 18 should be up quite soon, anyway, please tell me what you thought, hope you like it.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Need you Now**

**Thanks for all of your reviews from the last chapter guys, anyway, here's chapter 18, hope you like it, please read and review!**

**Chapter 18**

"Guys, I hate to say this, but I don't think that Gabs is gonna show," Jason mumbled, as they all sat outside the restaurant, an hour and forty five minutes after Gabriella had told them she would meet them.

"Maybe she forgot and just went home, expecting to meet us there?" Kelsi stated, hopefully, but her statement ended up more like a question as she took a hold of Jason's hand tightly and the gang all made the short walk back to the apartment.

"It's possible I guess," Zeke smiled, hoping to put some optimism back into everyone, even though they knew that it wouldn't happen, Gabriella had never been one to forget things, if you even gave her a random date over the last three or four years, she could probably tell you exactly what she had for dinner that day, or exactly what the gang had been doing, right down to the last minute little detail, which the gang had made a great game of over time, by simply asking Gabriella random questions about random dates, so there was no way that she would forget to meet the gang for lunch at their favourite restaurant in L.A.

Arriving back at the girls' apartment once more, the gang let out a collective sigh of frustration to find it locked up and empty, before a loud knock sounded from the door.

"Maybe that's her," Chad called gleefully, the others all looking sceptically at one another, knowing that if it was Gabriella, she would have just walked in, but nevertheless, Chad threw open the door anyway, only to immediately let the smile drop from his face as his Mother grabbed him into a big hug, and his Dad watched on apologetically, Lucille Bolton quickly pushing past them and rushing over to her son, who she had now not seen since Christmas, as the two older Bolton's had been away when the gang had returned to Albuquerque during Spring Break.

"Mom gerroff," Both boys' whined simultaneously, and the rest of the gang couldn't help but laugh at them, as Troy instantly started to swipe at his cheek where his Mother had kissed him, and Chad ran to hide behind Taylor from his Mother.

"Well, where's Gabriella," Jack Bolton sounded out cheerfully, after hugging his son, before Troy cautiously backed away from the two over excited Mother's, and joined the rest of the gang in looking uncomfortable, and shuffling their feet slightly.

"Guys, where's Gabriella, where is my daughter?" Jake Danforth asked sharply, as the smiles quickly fell from the parents' faces.

"We have no idea," Taylor breathed out, almost inaudible.

At the same moment though, Ryan muttered slightly louder, "She's missing again."

"What do you mean Gabriella's missing again?" Lorraine Danforth shrieked after a moment of silence, causing everyone in the room to wince.

Lucille quickly hurried across the room to wrap an arm around her hysterical neighbour and best friend since pre-school, "Okay guys, what's going on, how is Gabs missing again?" She asked as the older adults turned towards the younger ones, hoping for some kind of explanation, and the younger adults all turned towards Sharpay, who drew in a deep breath.

"Well, after the night we had last night, the nightmares returned," Sharpay added as an extra, seeing the confused looks on the adults faces quickly turn sombre, "We decided that we and Boo needed some desperate retail therapy, so of course we started the day by sifting through the guys wallets," The older adults couldn't help but chuckle softly at the not so thrilled looks that were now crossing their two sons and their friends faces, "And then in the like thirty something store we were in…"

"Thirty fifth," Both Taylor and Kelsi cut in at the same time, smiling at each other slightly through their tears as they leant back on their boyfriends chests, Taylor watching Troy who was now sat on the edge of the sofa, his elbows rested on his knees and his hands now covering his face.

"Yeah, the thirty fifth," Sharpay continued, shooting glares at the two girls for interrupting her, "Boo said that she needed some fresh air, so she was going to take a walk down the beach or something, we let her go, and she agreed that she would meet us at the restaurant with the guys in half an hour, but she never turned up, and two and a half hours later, here we are," Sharpay finished, her voice cracking slightly before she broke down in sobs, and Zeke was instantly beside her, holding her close to him as he gently rubbed circles into her back.

"Something's extremely wrong," Troy muttered as he ran his hands over his face before raising his crystal blue eyes, shiny with unshed tears to look at everyone else, "Ella promised me and you guys," he motioned towards the Danforths, "and you Shar," he motioned towards the hysterical Sharpay, "That she would never leave us again, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I know for a fact that Gabriella has never ever broken a promise that she's made to me, even if that meant that she came to a basketball game when in reality she should have been home with the flu, or saying that she'll marry me as soon as college ends, and I don't think that Ella's about to start that habit now," as the last few words tumbled out of his mouth, Troy looked around the group, as a murmur of agreement, and a nodding of heads passed around, "So right now, I think that we have to find Ella before it's too late…"

Suddenly, the TV switched on, as Chad accidentally leant back onto the power button on the remote.

_"And a black BMW is currently involved in a high speed chase this afternoon, after refusing to pull over for the police. Onlookers have said that they have seen three people in the front of the car, one a young woman who appeared to be struggling, as the tinted window was rolled down for a cigarette to be thrown from the car…"_

The people in the room instantly paled, as Jake Danforth voiced what was suddenly on everybody's minds, but which no one had the courage to voice themselves, "Why do I have a horrifying feeling in the pit of my stomach that the struggling young woman is my daughter…"

**Well guys, please review and tell me what you thought! Oh, and what do you guy's think of Vanessa's new video for Sneakernight? Hopefully Chapter 19 will be out shortly.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Need You Now**

**Hey guys, thanks for all of your reviews, anyway, here's Chapter 19, hope you like it, please read and review!**

**Chapter 19**

Gabriella sobbed in horror and shock as she was pulled into the car, her eyes immediately flicking up to see that Rick was the one holding her, one hand clamped over her mouth, with the other tightly around her waist.

Turning her gaze to the drivers seat as the tears streamed continuously down her face, her eyes widened once more in shock as she saw her very own flesh and blood so called father behind the steering wheel.

"This is for your own good Gabriella," Mike Montez muttered when he turned his head slightly to see his hysterical daughter staring at him, "I don't know what the hell those so called friends of yours have done to you, and that boy that you're supposedly with, but you're not my little girl anymore, and you need help, so it's for the best, we're going to find your mother, and then the three of us are going to live like a family again, G-d only knows what you've done with her though, so it's for the best," he muttered, his words getting faster and faster as his foot pressed harder and harder down on the pedal, and the car accelerated even more, flying through the streets at an exceptionally dangerous pace.

Rick laughed harshly in Gabriella's ear before bending even lower to gently lick her ear lobe, pressing his lips to her ear, making her shudder as he whispered huskily into her ear, "You see Gabriella, Daddy dearest happened to believe me when I told him that you were lying and that your Mother was alive and well, she just never saw you anymore because you had flown of the rails so to say," she could feel Rick smirking against her ear once more, "But as Daddy dearest says, this is all for the best," he grinned, slipping a hand underneath her knee length skirt, as she started squirming to get away from him.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO MY DAUGHTER?" Mike Montez suddenly roared, the car swerving slightly with his anger, as he saw Rick putting a cigarette out on Gabriella's arm, before rolling down the window and flicking it out, all the time grinning like a maniac as deafening sirens started up behind them, and both men turned slightly in their seats to see at least ten police cars chasing them through the streets, as Gabriella continued with her inconsolable sobs, believing that she would never get to see Troy or any of the others again.

"Exactly what I started four and a half years ago now with your wife, of course that was when she was alive," Rick cackled cruelly as Mike physically paled, turning towards Gabriella, whose face just screamed that Rick was telling the truth, for once. "Although if I had had my way, it would have been five and a half years ago, when I first spotted this faultless young woman standing on the steps to East High, with that perfect boyfriend of hers, while I was waiting to pick up my niece, Joanie, from the school," he cackled again, now making painful pinches all over Gabriella's bare arms, as she whined in pain and struggled to get away from him, also realising that Rick had been the man in the silver car that had terrified her for a year previous to her life going to hell, by stalking her continuously.

"Oh G-d, what have I done?" Mike began to sob to himself, as his eyes found his little girl's terrified face once more, "What have I done? Gabriella, I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry," He sobbed louder, as he slowly began to release the gas pedal and reach for the breaks.

"Don't even think about it Montez," Rick growled, and Gabriella started to whimper as he brought out an enormous, exceedingly sharp knife and held it against Gabriella's throat, "You so much as imagine stopping this car and I will slit your little girl's throat in less time than it takes you to even think about pulling this car to a stop," Rick threatened, his voice clear and cold as he preceded to twist Gabriella's struggling arm around so that a resounding snap could be heard, causing Gabriella to howl in pain as Rick smirked and Mike tried desperately hard not to gag as he sped the car up again.

"You know Gabriella, I've had a lot of fun with you over the years," Gabriella began to shake violently as she felt herself start to lose consciousness due to the amount of blood she was losing from the cuts that Rick was making all over her body, "I'm sure that your daddy here would just love to hear of some of the fun that we've had," he grinned again, and Gabriella felt her vision start to blur as it became harder and harder for her to breath and the cuts he had made just above her eyebrows began to seep with blood. Turning her head slightly to her father, she could slightly see that his knuckles were turning white from the force which he was exerting onto the steering wheel, and his face was starting to turn green, Gabriella could only envisage the horrors that he was thinking about right now, and personally she couldn't help but feel somewhat glad, because she had had to live through all of what he was imagining, possibly worse, whereas all he had to do was imagine them, and it was his fault that she was in this position now, if he had left her alone when she told him to, she could've been snuggled up with Troy on the couch watching a film, or simply sleeping in the comfort of his presence, rather than in this place that she viewed as being worse than hell, with the man she believed was the devil himself. "You see Mike, your daughter was always fun, there was the time when Maria and I started to hit her with the belt, or when we started to repeatedly kick her stomach, hey Gabriella, remember our first meeting when you forgot to pay the gas bill?" He questioned with a grin, obviously expecting an answer as he pushed the blade closer to her skin again, and she gave a quick shudder before nodding, how could she ever forget that day?

**Flashback**

**Gabriella slowly sunk to her knees. She knew that she had forgotten to do something, she just knew it. Of all the things that she could have forgotten to do, how could it have been to pay the gas bill?**

**Gabriella let out a startled squeak as the door to the kitchen abruptly flew open and her mother walked in with a terrifying looking man. He was all muscle, but not in a good way, he had a baldhead and tattoos covered most of his skin, his beard was unshaven and added to his terror. He also towered over Gabriella, which she knew straight away was not going to work in her favour. As they walked in they both glared at Gabriella, expecting something.**

"**Well, where is our breakfast," her mother demanded, glaring at Gabriella as she slowly turned in on herself, trying to get away from the anger in her mother's voice.**

"**Um…well…you see…err," Gabriella stuttered, shrinking with every word.**

"**What is it girl? Come on spit it out," the man whose name she did not know suddenly roared.**

"**I forgot to pay the gas bill, and we've been cut of, so I can't cook you breakfast," the words tumbled out of her mouth fast, as she closed her eyes against the blows she was sure would come.**

"**WHAT?!" her mother screamed as Gabriella looked up slightly, cringing when she saw the anger etched clearly into both adults faces.**

"**You little bitch," the man said as he advanced towards her and grabbed hold of her hair, pulling her head back hard. "You really think that you can just tell us something like that and get away with it? You disobeyed your mother and for that, you need to be severely punished." He finished with a smirk.**

**Gabriella looked over at her mother with pleading eyes, but her mother only had an identical smirk on her face as she moved closer to them and struck her daughter across the face, hard.**

**Gabriella cried out as she tasted the blood in her mouth and tried to move away, but the man still had a tight grip on her hair and she screamed out in pain as her mother and he laughed.**

**Next, Gabriella felt a solid blow to her stomach and sunk to the ground, holding it tight as she was kicked onto her side by a foot. The foot kept coming, again and again as she shrieked in pain. **

**The guy laughed as he grabbed Gabriella's arm and yanked her up from the floor, ripping her shoulder out of its socket. Gabriella felt the tears streaming down her face as the hot searing pain from her shoulder filled her whole body.**

**The guy grinned at her before throwing her back on the floor and stomping on her, as her mother did the same. Then she bent down next to Gabriella and put out her cigarette on Gabriella's leg as she was still wearing her sleeping shorts.**

**Leaving her daughter lying on the floor, Maria Montez stood back up and wrapped an arm around her latest lovers waist, and both of them grinned down at their latest accomplishment.**

**End Flashback**

"Oh I see," Rick grinned cruelly, "You do remember don't you?" He grinned again and Mike was physically getting paler by the minute, almost the colour of paper by this stage, "It went something like this didn't it Gabriella?" Rick asked, still grinning at her as she whimpered in fear of what to come when he abruptly grabbed her unbroken arm and tugged harshly on it, as a familiar searing white hot pain spread throughout her body from her now dislocated shoulder, and Gabriella let of a wail of agony. "But I have to say Gabriella," Rick smirked, "My favourite time ever with you has to be when you were sobbing for mercy, when you were begging me to stop, and when your Mother just laughed and gave me tips on what to do, that was genuinely the best time that I have ever had with you, the night I took your virginity," Rick sniggered, and Gabriella felt the sobs wrack her body once more as the memories of that night she wanted so desperately to forget came flooding back, and as her tears fell, they stung her face, where she was covered in fresh wounds, but she hardly felt the pain, too numb from the memories that she hated, too numb to hear her Father bellowing at Rick.

However, when she looked up and out of the side window, anything to keep her gaze from Rick, her eyes immediately widened, even if her sight was blurry from tears, she knew that what she saw was happening, and it was getting closer by the minute.

"DADDY!" She screamed as the car unexpectedly turned a full one hundred and eighty degree turn and Gabriella watched in horror as the full force of the oncoming truck hit her Father's side of the car where she would have been only moments earlier, before the squeal of metal was too much and she herself lost her consciousness…

**Well guys, that was chapter 19, a lot darker than I had originally planned it to be, so I'm not sure about it, please review and tell me what you thought, hopefully Chapter 20 will be out in the next few days, but my final exam is tomorrow, and then I will be updating most days hopefully.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Need You Now**

Hiya guys, thanks for all of your reviews on the last chapter, anyway, here's chapter 20, please read and review, hope you like it!

**Chapter 20**

Arriving at the scene of the accident, the gang, the Danforth's and the Bolton's were suddenly surrounded by police, paramedics, firemen, overly excited onlookers, the media, flashing lights and whirring sirens.

Pushing his way through the crowds, much to most people's protests, Troy finally made it to the police caution tape, just in time to see an unconscious girl with long dark curls be hauled out of the wreckage and carried off towards the ambulances.

"Gabriella," he called out weakly, tears automatically springing to his eyes before his voice found a new strength, "Gabriella!" Troy screamed louder, ducking under the police tape and darting around the officers that were trying to stop him reaching the love of his life as the gang and many others around them cried at the scene before them, a helpless looking young man, looking as though he was just about to lose his whole world as the doors to the ambulance were being closed, two officers suddenly grabbing onto Troy's arms, preventing him from getting anywhere near the ambulance.

"Sir, sir, you can't go back there!" The police officer yelled at a still struggling Troy as he broke down all of a sudden, and the tears pouring out of his eyes, like waterfalls, a long with his heart wrenching sobs, breaking the hearts of even those he did not know around him, as he collapsed to the ground at the officers feet and balled his hands into his eyes, Taylor quickly ducking underneath the police tape behind them and running to Troy, wrapping her arms around the one that she had always considered her little brother, or at least since she had actually taken the time to get to know him, and not just label him as the leader of the lunkhead basketball boys'.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" she roared at the policemen who blinked in uncertainty at the furious young woman before them, "That is his fiancée you complete idiots," she hissed, her arm still wrapped tightly around Troy's shaking shoulders as her own tears started to stream down her face.

"Wait, you know her?" One of the paramedics nearby asked and Taylor nodded her head.

"Of course I know her, she's Gabriella Anne Danforth-Montez, she's been through hell and back again over the last four and a half or so years, and she's my best friend, as good as my little sister," Taylor muttered angrily at the paramedic, even though he had actually done nothing.

Holding his hands up in defence, the paramedic looked back at the pair, Troy's sobs still getting the better of him, "Tay Tay, I can't lose her, I just can't," Troy sobbed repeatedly, as Taylor softly rocked him back and forth, shocked at what she was seeing, Troy had never broken down like this before, at least not that she was aware of, and from the looks of the gang and their parents, including his own, who were now stood behind the pair, none of them ever had either.

The paramedic looked up at all of the mournful faces surrounding the pair, before turning back to Taylor, "Look lady," Taylor bristled in anger, and Chad placed a calming hand on his girlfriend's shoulder, praying that her anger would not get the better of her, especially now that Troy was curled up in her arms sobbing his heart out, as though he were only a small, defenceless child, "There's no need to snap at me, I only asked because we had her down as being a Jane Doe, and we needed someone who knows her medical history to tell it to us, so there's room for two others in the ambulance, but we gotta go now," the man stated, jamming his thumb back towards the ambulance where his female colleague was already hanging out the door, desperate to go.

Taylor looked back at the gang and nodded as Jack Bolton quickly lifted his son away from Taylor, whispering soothing words in his ear, allowing Taylor to stand up, before taking back hold of Troy's hand and leading the now eerily silent young man to the back of the ambulance as the rest of the gang rushed back to their cars, ready to follow the ambulance back to the hospital, each person praying that Gabriella would be safe…

**Well guys, please tell me what you thought of Chapter 20, and hopefully Chapter 21 will be out soon, but unfortunately, it won't be for at least three or four days, as I am going away for the next three.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Need You Now**

**Heya guys, thanks for all of your reviews on the last chapter, they really do mean a lot to me, anyway, sorry for the wait, but here is chapter 21, hope you like it, please read and review!**

**Chapter 21**

Half an hour later, the gang flew through the hospital doors, skidding to a quick halt when they saw Taylor sat in the cold, hard chairs of the waiting room, trying to make conversation with Troy, although he looked like he was a million miles away, staring blankly at the wall in front of him, tears still streaming from his almost black, glassy eyes, which held no emotion at all in them.

"Taylor!" Chad called, and her head snapped up to look at them, her own tears stilling for only a moment as she ran into the safety net of Chad's arms and he held her tightly to him as she buried her face in his chest to hide the tears that were once again coming fast, Troy however, made no movements at all, not even looking at the gang.

"How is he?" Lucille questioned, a worried expression filling her features as she watched her son, not moving at all, barely even blinking as everyone else turned to look at the wreck of what was once the twenty one year old happy go lucky superstar for the UCLA basketball team, Troy Bolton.

"Not good," Taylor sighed, her gaze locking on Troy's empty blue eyes, although he made no movement to acknowledge her presence or the presence of anyone else in the room, "He hasn't said a word since we got into the ambulance, just stared at Gabriella the whole time, and since we got here, and she was whisked off to be checked out, he hasn't moved from that position," Taylor finished by turning her teary eyes back on the gang, connecting her own sorrow filled coffee eyes with Sharpay's as the blonde let out another sob and turned to bury herself deep into Zeke's side, knowing that if the gang lost Gabriella, they would lose Troy too.

"How's Gabriella?" Chad asked gravely, looking extremely tired at the fact that once again, his little sister was in a life or death situation, with the scales more than likely tipped more towards death.

"Worse than Troy," Taylor answered miserably, rubbing Chad's shirt between her fingers as she found the ground suddenly interesting, "There are times when I hate the fact that I'm studying to be a doctor," she sighed, "And this is one of them. Gabriella has a severe head condition, she's lost a lot of blood, one shoulder is dislocated, the other arm is broken, and among that she has cuts, bruises and has glass from the side window and the windshield lodged in her skin, lots of it deeply implanted," Taylor burst out into sobs, and Chad wrapped his arms even more tightly around her as he tried unsuccessfully to hold back his own tears and watched as the whole group disintegrated before his eyes.

Lisa Danforth fell to the floor sobbing, rocking back and forth on her knees as her husband crouched beside her and wrapped an arm around her in a feeble attempt to offer her some comfort, as his own sobs were released, tears streaming down his normally composed face. Lucille Bolton dropped into the seat beside her son, her mouth and eyes wide in shock as she tried to process the information that Taylor had just given the group, Jack gently slipped into the seat beside her, taking one of her shaking hands within his own, as his other hand held his head, trying ineffectively to hide his tears for the girl that he thought of as his own daughter from the rest of the group. Ryan was leaning on the wall, bent over with his hands covering his face, looking as though he may be sick at any given moment. Sharpay was buried into Zeke's chest, but it was obvious from the way that the blonde was shaking, and the sobs that were getting louder by the second, that she was crying hysterically for her best friend, praying that she would be alright, as Zeke himself collapsed against the wall, his own tears gracing his face as he slowly slid down to the floor, taking Sharpay with him. Kelsi was currently hitting Jason's chest in anger at the thought of what the gang was being put through once more, tears of sadness and anger streaming down her face as every once in while she let out a choked sob, Jason meanwhile was just letting her hit him, his own tears gently running down his face as he watched his girlfriend lose control and thought about Gabriella, the one he had always considered his baby sister, even if he wasn't as close to her as Chad or Ryan. Chad meanwhile was holding the sobbing Taylor close to him as he buried his face into her hair, crying his own painful tears.

The whole group of people's heads shot up however when a doctor walked out and asked if anyone was here for Gabriella Montez, immediately everyone swarmed the poor, unexpectant doctor, each talking a million miles an hour, one over the top of the other as the doctor tried to draw away, blinking in uncertainty as they all continued to yell.

"QUIET!" A new voice swiftly roared, and everyone turned around to see Troy walking in between everyone and straight up to the doctor, not even looking at any of the gang, "What's wrong with her doctor?" Troy asked, his voice now much quieter, a frightening calm surrounding his words, as though he had figured out what he would do whether the news was good, or bad.

The young male doctor sighed softly after looking Troy up and down quickly, "I'm afraid that it doesn't look good, even if she does wake up, I'm afraid that Miss Montez may have brain damage, or she may have lost the ability to use her arms or her legs, but right now, we need to concentrate on keeping her heart going, and trying to wake her up, we're trying everything possible. I take it as you all know Mike Montez and Rick Pickleton as well?" the doctor asked, carrying on without even waiting for the answers from the group of people stood before him, fresh tears now filling their eyes, "Mr Montez has suffered the worst, he has definitely lost the use of his legs, we are sure of that, he has two broken arms, although the surgery to remove the metal stuck in his head has gone well, and he is now in recovery, unconscious," the group nodded, not really caring anymore, each just thinking about Gabriella, "Mr Pickleton however is doing fine, just a few cuts and bruises here and there, we're keeping him over night for observation, otherwise, he should be home tomorrow, anyway, Miss Montez is in room 672, but we ask that you please visit her only one at a time," the doctor smiled once more at them and then walked off, not noticing the furious looks on the faces of all the people stood in front of him.

"He's fine," Ryan hissed in a dangerously low tone, "He's fine and Gabriella could die at any moment?" Ryan, as well as all of the guys looked enraged, the girls had all burst into fresh hysterics, and Troy, well he had gone back to his catatonic state, not showing anyone emotion.

"He won't be fine when I'm done with him," Chad bellowed, heading for reception to find out which room Rick was in, before his Dad grabbed a hold of him, and automatically, Chad started to cry, falling to the floor as Taylor ran to him, wrapping herself up in his arms as they both cried for the little sister they could possibly lose.

Troy just walked away from the group, heading towards the elevator as though he was on auto pilot, ignoring the calls of his friends and his parents as he pushed the button for level six and headed straight for Gabriella's room, breathing a sigh of relief when he finally reached it, without being interrupted, told to go back, or caught up to by one of the gang.

"Gabriella," Troy breathed out, almost inaudibly, as he closed the door behind him and headed silently over to her bed, feeling his tears increase in number as he reached her bed, gently sitting on the edge of it and bending over to kiss her forehead and the her lips delicately, taking in all of the wires that surrounded her, the bruises and cuts that seemed to cover every inch of her skin, some deep and long, others short and shallow, any skin actually showing a pale clammy white looking unnatural colour for the usually tanned beauty. His eyes snapped up to one of the machines as it started to make a noise that he never ever wanted to hear from a machine hooked up to his fiancée.

"Gabriella," Troy sobbed out, backing into the corner with his hands covering his mouth and nose as yet more tears streamed from his already swollen red eyes, doctors and nurses rushing into the room faster than he had ever seen anyone run, the sound of that one continuous beep ringing through Troy's ears…

**Well guys, that was Chapter 21, please review and tell me what you thought of it, also if you have time, please check out my new oneshot Innocence, and tell me what you think of that as well, anyway, Chapter 22 should hopefully be out in the next few days, and once again sorry for the wait on this chapter.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Need You Now**

**Hey guys, thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter, anyway, here's chapter 22, hope you like it, and you know the drill, please review and tell me what you think of it!**

**Chapter 22**

Troy watched on helplessly, still sobbing as the doctors finally gave up trying to revive his love, calling her time of death at six twenty eight pm, covering her with a simple white sheet as the nurses and doctors all sent him looks of sympathy and pity, before exiting the room, once more leaving him alone with Gabriella.

Troy's tears had stopped and were now replaced by a look of shock covering the young mans features, as he gazed at the white sheet, too terrified to view what was under it, and quickly backed out of the room, running into the nearest bathroom to throw up any of the remaining food which he had eaten in the last few days.

Staggering back into the hallway, as pale as a sheet of paper, Troy walked straight up to the gang, who were still watching him with worried expressions covering all of their features, after having followed him up the stairs in the end, coming to a stop a few feet away from him, his mouth was moving, but no words were leaving, until he finally managed to utter the two words that everyone had been dreading.

"Sh-sh-sh-she's gone," Troy managed to stutter out, a stunned expression covering his features as he collapsed helplessly into his Mother's arms, and Lucille held her only son close, rocking him back and forth as he sobbed.

Immediately, all of the girls burst into fresh hysterics, gaining the attention from passers-by as they sobbed loudly and disjointedly, the guys just holding them close, as they all tried to figure out what they were feeling themselves, before their own heavy sobs broke out and every couple fell to the floor, Jack Bolton joining his wife and son.

A nurse had eventually come up to the grieving people and offered them a family room, so that they could grieve privately, which they had ultimately accepted, also taking it in turns to go and pay their last respects to the young woman that they had all loved so much, everyone's true best friend. Troy however, had returned to his catatonic state, after refusing to go and see Gabriella one last time.

Ultimately, they decided that they would all go in in their couples, bar Ryan, who would be joining Sharpay and Zeke to pay his last respects. They also decided that as Gabriella had become their daughter, the Danforths' should be the first couple in to see her, although Chad had asked if he and Taylor could go last, much to everyone's astonishment, believing that Chad would want to be one of the first ones in to say his final farewells to his baby sister.

Everyone was in fresh tears by the time they returned to the room, and finally, it was time for the second last group, Sharpay, Zeke and Ryan, although Sharpay clung onto both of them as though she would never let them go again, and the gang knew that she was blaming herself for what had happened to Gabriella, due to the fact that she was the one who had said that Gabriella could go for that fatal walk by herself, instead of sticking close to the girls, where they could've kept an eye on her.

Halfway through the trios allotted time in the room, the door to the family room burst back open and a hysterical Sharpay flew back into the room, muttering about how all of this had been her fault, and how she should never have let Gabriella out of her sight.

Surprisingly, the sight of one of his best friends, one of the ones he counted as his little sister, must have shocked Troy from his catatonic state, as he was instantly at her side, before anyone else could reach her, pulling her swiftly into a tight hug and whispering fiercely to her that it was not her fault, that none of it was her fault, and to stop thinking about that, the pair had held onto each other tightly, before sinking back into silence, a source of comfort for each other, knowing that other than Chad and her parents, these were probably the two closest people to Gabriella, and the only other ones other than Chad who potentially knew more about Gabriella than either of her sets of parents had ever known.

And then, it was Chad and Taylor's turn.

"I can't believe she's really gone," Taylor whispered sadly, the tears flowing freely down her cheeks as she gently brushed Gabriella's hair away from her face.

Chad however, was refusing to accept the fact that his baby sister was gone, he refused to believe that after all these years of fighting, the struggle which he alone knew Gabriella went through to pull her life back together after the death of her mother, Chad knew more about how that had affected her than anyone, even Troy, due to the late night discussions that they would have in one another's rooms most nights, after their parents, his biological, and her adoptive, had retreated to bed, and he knew for one that Gabriella Montez was clinging to her life so desperately, that what she had been through in her teenage years had given her a whole new perspective on life itself and how fragile it really was, that Chad refused to believe that just like that, she had given up, and so, Chad declined the thought of nearing Gabriella's bed at all, instead standing well back against the wall opposite, in the shadows as his girlfriend sobbed her heart out over Gabriella's body.

Slowly, he turned the ring that was in his pocket over and over again, watching the floor intently as he thought about how Gabriella had been the one to help him find the perfect ring to ask Taylor to marry him, before any of this started, he and Gabriella had come up with the perfect plan of taking the whole gang to dinner, the two of them paying for it, instead of just Chad, which he was eternally grateful to Gabriella for, and right there, in front of the gang, with his parents, Taylor's parents, and most importantly to him, Gabriella's blessings, he was going to ask Taylor to become his wife, anger surged through him as he realised that due to two people, his little sister, who he loved more than anyone in the world except Taylor, was not going to be there to see him get married, or to get married herself, all because of two people's stupid, idiotic psychopath tendencies.

As the anger continued to build up, Chad couldn't help the tears that were suddenly pouring down his face, his whole body shaking with rage, as for the first time, he looked up to see Gabriella's cold, lifeless face, the one that had always held a happy smile, no matter how bad things had gotten with anything. Chad's gaze continued downwards, his sobs getting heavier as he saw the cuts and bruises covering every inch of Gabriella's weakened body, he had failed her, he had failed in his duty as her big brother, he was supposed to protect her from everything, well that had worked out well hadn't it?

Chad's breath caught in his throat as his eyes snapped up to Gabriella's chest once more, sure that he was hallucinating, if what the doctors and Troy had said was correct than he had to be imagining it, Gabriella's chest, softly moving up and down, not much, but still just by a little, she was breathing, Chad was sure of it as he pushed himself from the door and flew across the room to Gabriella's side, ignoring Taylor who was asking him what he was doing from her position in the chair, her face buried in her hands no longer as she watched Chad's every movement.

Chad gently placed a hand on Gabriella's chest, wincing slightly at how cold her skin was underneath the thin hospital nightgown that she was wearing, but sure enough, there it was, her chest was moving up and down, Chad nearly broke down in tears of relief there and then, as he beckoned Taylor to him, and gently replaced his hands with her own, watching as his girlfriends eyes widened as she too felt the movement, before snapping her eyes up to look at Chad once more, who was now grinning.

"Ch-Chad, she's breathing, she's breathing Chad, that means she can't be dead, the doctors were wrong!" Taylor started off uncertainly, before her face erupted into a huge beaming smile, and she practically squealed the last words, as Chad picked her up and swung her around, both laughing in relief. "Chad, I should check her pulse," Taylor whispered, quickly unravelling herself from Chad's arms as she rushed back over to Gabriella, causing Chad to roll his eyes and smile, realising that Taylor would always make a great doctor herself when she finally finishes Med school, as will Gabriella, if she ever gets to finish.

Chad watched sadly as his girlfriend gently ran her two fingers up and down Gabriella's neck, desperate to find that one eluding pulse, his own heart rate quickening as he heard Taylor's sharp intake of breath and she whirled around to face him once more, "It's definitely there Chad, it's just really weak," and with that said, Taylor disappeared from Chad's view once more as the bushy haired young mans eyes widened in surprise when Taylor bobbed back up and clipped the machinery back onto Gabriella's finger.

"Stupid doctors at this stupid hospital, couldn't even find a friggin pulse," Taylor muttered angrily, and Chad couldn't help the snigger that left his lips as the two watched the straight line on the screen start to make patterns once more.

Slowly but surely, a slow beep started to fill up the room, Gabriella had a pulse, only it was a very slow and weak pulse…

**Well guys, that was Chapter 22, hope you liked it, please review and tell me what you thought, also I am thinking of starting a series of oneshots, to go into more detail about all of the pictures that have been in this story, mainly when the gang were spread all over the country, and some of the smaller events they were thinking of, such as Gabriella and Chad searching for Taylor's perfect engagement ring, so can you please review and tell me if you'd be interested in reading those as well.**


	23. Chapter 23

Need you Now

**Need you Now**

**Hey guys, I am so sorry for not updating in so long but I had a little bit of writer's block, however, I now know exactly where this story is going and how many more chapters there are, so hopefully updates will become more regular again. Anyway, thank you so much for all of your reviews on the last chapter and I hope you like this one too, so please, read and review.**

**Chapter 23**

The days dragged slowly by. Three days had passed since Gabriella had 'died', and there was still no signs of her ever waking up, although thankfully the heart monitors kept up there steady beeping all through the days and nights which had passed. Troy and Chad had never left Gabriella's side during those three days, terrified that at any moment they could lose their fiancée or little sister, respectively.

The rest of the gang had spent most of their time in the room, but left to go and sleep or eat, whereas the two boys slept in the uncomfortable chairs, leaning over with their heads on Gabriella's bed, holding onto one of her hands as though they would never let go, and only glancing at the food which the gang brought them to eat, before turning back to watch Gabriella for even the tiniest of movements, not that they had found any yet.

Currently, the gang were heading back to Gabriella's room, after another lunch break, debating how best to get the two boys' inside of the room to eat once more as they wandered slowly down the corridor, definitely in no hurry to see a lifeless Gabriella once more, their arms overloaded with goodies to try and coax the guys into eating, everything from cereal to pizza was in the groups arms as Ryan twisted the door handle and they all walked into the room, a collective sigh leaving the group as Gabriella still lay in her bed and neither of the two guys even acknowledged their entrance to the room.

"Guys, come one, we've got food and you need to eat," Jason muttered quietly as he gently nudged the side of Chad's head, and Sharpay took hold of Troy's spare hand, trying desperately to pull him to his feet, but Chad and Troy just looked at each other before looking back at Gabriella once more.

"Not hungry," They murmured simultaneously, ignoring the looks that the gang were shooting at each other, each knowing that if the guys' didn't eat something soon, then more than likely, they would be forcefully separated from Gabriella, due to the fact that they would both be in other rooms in the hospital.

Seeing Chad lift up a weak arm in a yawn, before letting it drop unresponsively back onto the bed was the final straw for Taylor, and tears filled her eyes as terror overflowed her senses, thinking that it could be now possible that as well as having her little sister in a coma, her boyfriend and little brother may also be joining her, "G-d damn it guys'," She screamed, and everyone turned to her in shock, never having heard Taylor scream so loudly before, "We already have Gabriella in a coma, if you two fall into them through lack of eating, just think, nobody will be able to concentrate fully on her, who desperately needs our attention right now, because we have to concentrate on the two babies who won't feed themselves," Taylor sobbed her heart out, and Kelsi wrapped a comforting arm around her friend, before turning to watch Troy and Chad's reactions as the two of them stood up and faced the gang, each going red in the face, and Kelsi instantly knew that what was coming was not going to be good for any of them.

"Well I am sorry that I can't eat right now Taylor, but as you so correctly pointed out, my fiancée, the only love of my life is in a coma, so I'm sorry that eating comes quite low on my list of important things to do right now, when I may never be able to see my happy bouncing girl again," Troy roared, and instantly, the whole gang started to scream insults back and forth at each other, all but one blonde boy, who was watching the pretty brunette on the bed with interest, as two of her fingers started to twitch, and Ryan crossed his in hope, completely ignoring what the others were yelling at each other, Troy and Chad against the rest, and the room thick with tension as the stress which everyone had been holding in since the day that Mike and Rick walked back into their lives erupted.

"Come on Gabs, you can do this, I know that you can," Ryan whispered from his place in the shadows, grinning as Gabriella's eyes started to flicker as well, her brow furrowing against the shouts that were filling the previously peaceful room.

"You guys?" A petite brunette asked hoarsely, finally regaining her life again, as she blinked furiously against the bright lights of the room, "You guys," she tried again, but the gang seemed not to notice her, and the young woman started to get frustrated as she lay back down on her bed, already sick of the bickering and being ignored, so she decided to try one final thing which usually got their attention. "OI! Would you lot shut up!" Gabriella yelled as she sat up in her bed, holding her left hand to her forehead.

Everyone quickly turned around in shock at the unexpected yell, and Ryan chuckled softly as the gang finally realised what he had seen about five minutes ago, when their yelling began, and Gabriella's hand had started to twitch.

"I have a freaking pounding migraine and you guys sure as hell aren't helping now will you all shut up and will somebody please G-d get me some aspirin!" Gabriella cried out, falling backwards onto the bed and wincing slightly as her back started to hurt from the bruises she had just landed on, the gang still staring at her in awe, "What do I have something on my face?" Gabriella questioned, subconsciously reaching up to trail a hand around her face as the whole gang beamed down on her, a smile lighting up her own face as she could already tell that her injuries were starting to heal, they were just going to take time.

Suddenly, Troy launched himself onto her, wrapping his arms tightly around her, and peppering her face with kisses, as Gabriella squealed and scrunched up her face, noticing that Troy seemed to know where every single one of her injuries, and was managing to steer clear of all of them.

At the same time, Chad's hunger abruptly got the better of him and he snatched the two pizza slices and hotdog from Taylor's grasp and instantly devouring the pizza, before ravenously starting on the hotdog as the other guys just laughed at their friend's obvious love for food, and Taylor rolled her eyes, laughing herself.

"Gabriella, oh thank G-d, I really thought I'd lost you that time, I am never leaving you alone again, never ever again," Troy squawked hysterically, causing Gabriella to let lose a little giggle that made every one else smile, even Troy.

"Yeah Briella, he's been a real mess, had a real break down at one point, quite nerve wrecking really," Chad managed to spit out, a long with crumbs from the hotdog that he was eating, causing the girls to squeal and move away from him, and Gabriella to crinkle her nose in disgust.

"Charming bro, nice to know that you missed me," Gabriella muttered sarcastically, but Kelsi heard her and grinned at the slightly out of place brunette.

"Actually G, Chad was on hunger strike and didn't eat anything for three days, he and Troy never left your bedside once, it was only when you since you just woke up that he started to eat the hotdog that he's eating now, the first food he's had in three days, a big shocker," Kelsi grinned, and Gabriella couldn't help but chuckle softly, despite the fact that she was still being squeezed a little too tightly in Troy's embrace with his head buried deeply into the crook of her neck as she gently twirled the ends of his hair around her fingers, trying to calm him down, as she could feel his fresh, cool tears of relief soaking through her thin hospital gown, and knew that he had buried his head there so that the gang wouldn't have to see him cry once more.

Finally Troy pulled away, and grinned at her, before leaning in and kissing her in a long, slow, sweet kiss that reunited the couple as one, the girls awwwing, while continually giving the boys death glares for pretending to gag constantly as the pair kissed.

Pulling away when air was necessary, Troy grinned once more and leant his forehead on Gabriella's as everyone else grabbed a seat around the room, or sat on the edge of the bed.

Gabriella opened her eyes slowly after the kiss, feeling Troy's forehead against her own, she raised her shining mocha coloured eyes to meet his baby blue ones, "I love you Troy Bolton, forever and for always," she whispered against his lips, a ghost of a smile making it's way over her face as Troy kissed her gently again.

"And I love you Gabriella Danforth-Montez, forever and for always," Troy muttered straight back, and this time Gabriella leant in to kiss him, both forgetting about their friends still in the room, who were now all whistling and looking away, feeling as though they were invading the couples privacy.

Gabriella giggled softly, and instantly, all of the gang looked back at her, and she grinned as she drank in every one of them, but a look of confusion flitted over her face as she glanced down at her legs and saw Troy's on top of her own, although she couldn't feel the weight of them at all.

"Troy," she muttered, pulling on the sleeve of his shirt, and pulling him out of his conversation with Ryan as the whole gang looked to her once more, "Why can't I feel my legs?" Gazing into his usually clear blue eyes, Gabriella could see a turmoil of emotions running through them, but the two that she could picture the most were horror and fear.

Glancing at the rest of the gang, her confusion grew as she could see the same horror and fear dancing throughout all of their features as they all thought the same thing, Rick was awaiting trial, they had Gabriella back, but at what cost?

**Well guys, that was chapter 23, please tell me what you thought of it, and I can tell you that I think that there are roughly 28 chapters in this story, and I should have it finished before I go on holiday in two weeks time, anyway, it's two in the morning so I better stop prattling on and get this posted so that I can get to bed.**


	24. Chapter 24

Need You Now

**Need You Now**

**Hiya guys, sorry for the wait on this chapter, my internet keeps going off, and I don't know when I'll be able to get it fixed, anyway, since I've had so long to spend on this chapter, it's longer than usual, and thanks for all of your reviews, here's chapter 24, hope that you all like it, and please review to tell me what you think!**

**Chapter 24**

One month later, and Gabriella was still in hospital, although she was slowly healing. Most of her bruises were gone, with the occasional yellow mark left on her skin, the majority of her cuts were healing up nicely, her dislocated arm was healing satisfactorily with her daily physiotherapy and her broken arm was still wrapped up in the bright pink cast, courtesy of Sharpay, although even that was due to come of shortly, her broken bones on the quick mend.

Gabriella's legs on the other hand, were healing the slowest of all. After that terrifying moment where she realised that she could no longer feel them, Ryan had instantly rushed off to find a doctor, and she was instantaneously wheeled away for tests, Troy never once leaving her side, as she stared up at him with terrified eyes, praying that he wouldn't leave her, even though to himself, that thought had never even crossed his mind, especially as he had only just gotten her back.

The test results had come back only hours later, and they had not been the results that anyone had hoped for. Doctor Simons had told Gabriella and the gang that she was permanently paralysed from the waist down, more than likely never to regain the usage of her legs. Immediately, Gabriella had burst into hysterical sobs, most of the gang joining in, while trying to console each other, as well as Gabriella, each thinking the same thing, how was any of this fair? For all of the crimes that he had committed and lives that he had ruined in the process, Rick had come out of the accident fairly unscathed, only a few scratches and bumps here and there, although thankfully to the gang and Gabriella, he was now awaiting trial for everything that he had done, whereas Mike, although still guilty of some things had also lost the use of his legs, and was now in a wheelchair, even though he had left the hospital a day earlier than Gabriella had woken up, with one of his friends from the forces. Then there was Gabriella herself, the innocent victim in all of this, the young one who had had the world at her feet, only to have it all taken away from her in a heartbeat, as she sobbed in that hospital bed, listening to Doctor Simons drone on and on about what she would no longer be able to do, and where she may receive help from.

However, an hour after her tears had started, only the guys remained in her room, the girls having disappeared off to try and find something in the gift shop to cheer them all up, if only slightly, more than likely comfort food, such as chocolate. But Gabriella had surprised the guys by suddenly stopping her tears, a determined look spreading over her face as she threw the covers off of her weakened body, and used the arm that had been dislocated previously to lift her legs up from the bed and swing them over the side, before gently shimmying her way towards the edge of the bed, watching as her toes touched the cold floor, and frowning when she couldn't feel it, still pushing herself until her feet were flat on the floor, although she still sat on the bed, she finally gave herself one last heave off of the bed and ended in a standing position, however, she was still leaning heavily onto the bed. Letting go, she stood still for about five seconds as the guys still watched on in wonder, no one having said anything since Gabriella had stopped crying. Suddenly though, she had started to wobble, and had found herself crashing to the ground before she could grab onto anything, thankfully though, Jason had been there to grab her before she fell onto the floor, and Troy had been by their sides instantly, lifting Gabriella into his arms and carrying her back to the bed, while she cried tears of frustration and screamed at him to put her down, as she was convinced that she could do this, or die trying, and that was exactly what Troy was afraid of, as he held her to the bed, closing his eyes against her thrashing and crying, until she had finally given up and just lay on the bed, staring out of the window, her body shaking with silent cries as Troy climbed into the bed beside her and wrapped his arms around his tiny girlfriend, the other guys discreetly leaving the room, and preventing the girls from entering again.

The guys had all silently vowed to help Gabriella that day, as well as keep it a secret from everyone else, knowing that the girls would only worry about them causing more damage to Gabriella, but each day, as soon as the girls left, usually on a food run, or to phone all of their parents, who had had to leave the day after Gabriella had woken, Troy would instantly pick Gabriella up from the bed, and the guys would surround the two of them, desperate to get Gabriella mobile again, and she couldn't thank them enough, her fiancée and her brothers, each determined to help her for their own reasons, just as she had helped them in the years previous, whether it had been to help them stand up to their fathers and show that there was a whole other side to them than just basketball, whether it was to show them that the status quo was a whole load of crap and truthfully people weren't that different just because of their 'social status', whether it was showing them that they really did have some smarts, and weren't always just the butt of each joke, whether it was helping them become their own person and help them to step out of someone else's shadow, but the main reason for all of them, was that she had given them all a family, a wonderful family that once upon a time would have been separated, the 'jocks', the 'drama geeks' and the 'nerds', Gabriella had given them all of that and more, so the guys figured that now it was their time to give something back to her, and they were going to do that by helping her regain the use of her legs, or die trying as quickly became their motto.

A week into their challenge, a success story was born, for a week in, Gabriella took her first step, completely unaided. Troy had been staring at something out of the window, his back turned to the group, while Chad had held tightly onto Gabriella to make sure she didn't fall, the group of guys still surrounding the pair, as Gabriella motioned to Troy, and Chad had swiftly picked her up, moving towards his best friend as their entourage followed one step behind at all times, but with a step still to go, Gabriella had stopped Chad, and motioned for him to put her down. Hesitantly, he had done so, nobody knowing what Gabriella was planning as she pushed Chad's arms away, wobbling a little bit, holding out her arms to try and regain some balance, and nodding swiftly when she realised that she had her stability back. The guys had watched on with bated breath as she had tentatively raised her leg, grinning at her own accomplishment, as she managed to put it back down and take that crucial first step forward, before trembling again, and collapsing onto Troy's back, who had jumped in shock and turned his head to find a beaming Gabriella as the guys had erupted into cheers and began dancing around the room. Troy, quickly realising what had happened, had spun around and grabbed Gabriella, before twirling her around the room, laughing with her and telling her how proud he was of her before covering her mouth with his own, in a sweet, sensational kiss.

Three weeks to the day since she had taken that first step, the boys had been left alone with Gabriella once again as the girls went to the corner store in search of decent food, only this time the guys and Gabriella had decided unanimously that they needed to do something more fun today, to celebrate the fact that Gabriella was being released from hospital the following day, and the fact that she had made her biggest achievement to date only the day before, when she had managed to take six steps across the room, from Zeke, to Troy.

"Guys I'm bored!" Gabriella whined loudly from her position on Troy's lap, as the two took over her hospital bed, with the other guys dotted around the room, each in a suitably uncomfortable looking chair.

Jason looked over at the petite brunette from where he was counting the ceiling tiles for at least the fifth time, "Yeah well Gabs, join the club," he whinged straight back and all of the guys laughed as Gabriella pouted, until Troy leaned over and kissed her, much to the guys disgust as they all pulled faces and looked away.

Breaking away from the kiss, Gabriella sighed heavily as she glanced around her room, before her eyes landed on the corner that held the item that before now, she had point blanc refused to use, but could now come in very helpful, she grinned and mischief just shone from her eyes, radiating off of every one of her facial features, "Guys, I think that I have a plan," She giggled softly, and the guys all glanced at each other, amusement on all of their faces other than Chad's, which showed horror as he started to shake his head.

"No way Briella," He stated firmly and everyone turned to look at him in confusion except for Gabriella, whose grin just seemed to grow if anything, "The last time I went through with one of your plans when you had that look on your face I ended up in so much trouble I considered making up a crime just so I could turn myself into the police and escape that house," Chad cried frantically, waving his arms to stress his point as Gabriella and the other guys just laughed.

"Oh Chad, stop being such a baby!" Gabriella laughed, rolling her eyes slightly, "We only ended up grounded for a month, with no TV, going out, computer games, phone, internet, books for me and basketball for you, and a ton of chores to do mind you, but still, it was so worth it," Gabriella beamed at her brother as they both flashed back to an event of their senior year of high school, when everyone else had been away with their families over Christmas break.

**Flashback**

"**Chad, I'm bored!" Gabriella yelled, causing Chad to laugh as her door straight across from his slammed open and she bounced across the hallway into his own bedroom, the sugar from the Christmas cookies that the two had devoured earlier still coursing through her veins as she flopped down next to Chad on the bed and raised an eyebrow when she saw that he was watching the Hugh Grant film Notting Hill. Turning to her brother, she could barely control her laughter at the thought of her brother Chad, the basketball star, watching a chick flick, and she raised her eyebrow again, still stifling her laughter.**

"**What?" The young basketball star asked defensively, "There was nothing else on, all of the other channels are out," He pouted, and glared out of the window at the heavy rain as Gabriella burst into hysterical laughter, and Chad quickly turned around, grinning at her and thankful for her laughter, given that it was only a little over a year since her parents had died and everything had happened with Rick, who was still yet to be caught. "Why are you laughing at me?" Chad whined, scrunching up his face in confusion as Gabriella just started to laugh harder.**

"**Chad, why didn't you just watch a DVD or something?" Gabriella managed to gasp out between her hysterical laughs as she gave a strangled yelp, managing to roll herself off of the bed as her laughter continued, and Chad followed his sister by peaking over the edge of the bed, before she gave a sharp tug on his arm, causing him to screech slightly as he crashed to the floor beside her.**

"**Kids?" An amused voice asked from the doorway, and both teenagers glanced up from their mess of limbs on the floor to see Lorraine Danforth leaning against the doorframe, a wide smile covering her features, as she shook her head softly, used to the recently found brother and sister antics, "Anyway, all I wanted to say was that I have to go and pick your Dad up from the bar, he and his friends are somewhat drunk after having celebrated New Years slightly early," Chad and Gabriella glanced at the clock and realised that it read only four in the afternoon, causing them both to laugh as they waved to Lorraine and managed to pick themselves out of the heap they had made on Chad's floor.**

"**Chad I'm still bored!" Gabriella whined as the pair trooped down the stairs, the rain having only just stopped outside.**

"**Yeah well so am I Briella, does it seem that ever since everyone else went away all we do is complain that we're bored?" Chad sighed, turning around to see Gabriella nod glumly, mumbling something about how she missed Troy, before Chad's foot seemed to disappear out from under him and he rolled down the last five stairs, landing at the bottom with a thud and an ow as Gabriella stared at him with wide eyes for a minute before bursting into reels of laughter, and followed the grumbling Chad into the kitchen.**

**Chad started to rummage around in the fridge as Gabriella sat down at the table and sighed, her eyes scanning the room, before they landed on what Mr Danforth's parents had gotten the two teenagers for Christmas only a few days before, and they lit up, mischief shining as she turned back to Chad, who was still innocently making a sandwich.**

"**Chad, I have an idea of what we could do," Gabriella grinned, and he turned around, the sandwich hanging from his mouth as Gabriella rolled her eyes, before pointing to their presents, and instantly, he dropped the sandwich and his own eyes lit up before looking back to Gabriella.**

"**All right, I think that we've definitely had a bad influence on you Montez," Chad sniggered, as Gabriella giggled as well, and the two did their handshake, before racing to their presents and ripping the boxes open.**

"**How do we work them?" Chad asked, stood in the middle of the immaculately clean front room, as he twirled his blue paint gun over and over in his hands, shrugging as he found a button, and pressing it to see what it would do, before dropping the paint gun and flying behind the sofa at the same time as Gabriella as all of a sudden, blue splodges of paint went flying around the cream and brown room, hitting everything in sight as the two teenagers watched on, wide eyed, and Gabriella wearily holding her pink paint gun as far away from her as possible.**

**When the noise had finally ceased, the two peered over the edge of the sofa and gasped in horror at what they saw. The once perfectly organised room was now a mess, and that was an understatement. The force of the light blue paint pellets had knocked over dozens of ornaments, shattering them instantly, pictures hung limply on the walls, covered in blue paint, or else they had crashed to the floor, all of the walls and furniture were now decorated with blue splodges, including the cream coloured curtains and the windows.**

**Chad and Gabriella gulped as they took in every bit of damage in the room, before glaring back at each other. "This is all your fault!" They both yelled at the same time, each of them placing their hands on their hips as they continued to yell in time with each other, "ME? No way, you started it!"**

**Gabriella sighed harshly as she realised that they were getting no where by yelling at each other, and instead reached out to slap Chad over the back of the head. "You pressed the damn button Chad I mean what the hell were you thinking?" Gabriella muttered angrily, breathing heavily as she took in all of the damage that the teenagers were somehow going to have to clean up.**

"**Well excuse you," Chad murmured back, still rubbing the back of his head, as Gabriella attempted to stay mad and not laugh at both her own and Chad's sudden attitude, but that was all lost when Chad turned to her and grinned, before they both burst out into amused laughter, before Chad's eyes spied the clock on the fireplace, and hi face paled instantly. "Briella, Mom and Dad are gonna be home in like ten minutes tops," he whispered, gripping onto Gabriella's arm in fear as her own eyes widened, neither wanting to know the wrath that they would feel from their parents for ruining the room, especially given that it had only just been redecorated with new furniture just under two months ago.**

"**Okay, I know this sounds weird, but I think that we need to do something worse than we've already done," Gabriella stated, and Chad looked at her thinking that she had gone crazy, while she herself was starting to wonder what she was going on about, "Well think about it Chad, if we do something worse, then they'll focus on that instead, and hopefully forget about what we've done in here," The words had tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop them, and much to her own dread, Chad seemed to be thinking about what she had just said.**

"**I think that you may have officially gone nuts Briella, but that may just work, and I know exactly what we can do," Chad beamed, snapping his fingers as he ran from the room and re-entered moments later, carrying a box, which Gabriella knew contained the Danforth's fancy wedding china.**

"**What you gonna do kidnap there best things or something?" Gabriella joked, and her eyes bugged out in shock as Chad started to nod excitedly.**

"**Yeah, that's exactly it, if we kidnap their best things, they won't be looking for the damage that we've done in here, they'll be looking for all this stuff instead," Chad grinned, and instantly Gabriella smiled softly, reaching to grab some prized pictures of the four family members together, as Chad ran upstairs and started to ransack their parents room.**

**Six and a half minutes later, Gabriella glanced out of the window, only to see the Danforth's red car pull onto the street, and instantly, she called for Chad, the two grabbing the two boxes they had filled, fleeing out of the back door, and climbing the still wet tree in the back garden, Gabriella passing Chad her box as she climbed from the tree onto the roof and the two snuck around to the front of the house, directly above the garage as they watched Lorraine Danforth help her husband out of the car, and the pair stifled their laughter as they watched their Dad wobble, before Lorraine pulled him into the house, causing the pair to glance at each other, before deciding to make themselves more comfortable, knowing that they were in for one rough, long night.**

**"CHAD, GABRIELLA," Jake Danforth thundered, suddenly sober, and both teenagers looked at each other, their eyes wide with fright as they gulped.**

**The front door slammed open, and much to the teenagers distaste, they looked down to see both Lorraine and Jake Danforth staring back up at them, murderous expressions on their faces.**

**"Hi Mommy," Chad whispered meekly as Gabriella whispered "Hiya Daddy," all at the same time, and Jake's face seemed to soften slightly, but it instantly hardened once more with a sharp look from his wife.**

**"Don't you 'hi Mommy' and 'hiya Daddy' us Chad Michael Danforth and Gabriella Anne Danforth-Montez! What did you two do to that room?" Lorraine roared as she watched the two kids flinch and draw away slightly.**

**"Well…ummm…you see…uhh," they both stuttered out, neither being able to actually say what had happened, and both cringing when they heard a crash and the sound of breaking china, looking at each other, and realising that neither one was now holding a box, they glanced down cautiously, only to see both of their parents glaring at the smashed contents of the boxes, before turning their faces to look back to the startled teenagers on the roof, their faces growing red from rage.**

**The two scooted further back onto the roof, making themselves comfortable again for a long night, and sure enough they were right. Chad and Gabriella had welcomed in the New Year together on the roof, with their parents still watching them from below, naturally. The teenagers had watched the celebratory fireworks from other places in Albuquerque, before trying to use the time old excuse with their parents that it was a New Year, and old crimes should be forgotten about and forgiven. Of course, neither of the older Danforth's bought this excuse for a moment, and the family of four were still out there in the early hours of the morning as even the die hard partiers returned home.**

**The following day, the gang had all returned home from being away with their families, and almost instantly had phoned or texted each other to meet up. Unable to get in touch with either Chad or Gabriella, the gang had decided to wander around to the Danforth's house, however, when they got their, no one could stop themselves from laughing at the sight in front of them.**

**Lorraine Danforth was stood on the ground, just in front of the garage, clutching a mug close to her chest as she glared upwards, her husband was sat beside her, also glaring at the two figures on the roof as he yelled out to them, telling them that if they came down now, their punishments would be better than if they came down later.**

**It was also clear from the way that Chad and Gabriella were sat on the roof, singing 'If you're happy and you know it' at the top of their lungs, instantly putting in the actions when they were needed that they were both trying desperately hard to ignore their parents.**

**However, the instant that Gabriella spotted Troy, a beam broke out on her face and she launched herself off of the low roof, obviously Troy being just below to catch her instantly, and sweep her into a passionate kiss. Chad spotted Taylor at the same moment, and vaulted off the roof, landing next to his girlfriend with a cocky grin on his face as he leaned down to kiss her.**

**Both teenagers realised their mistake though when they heard the sound of two voices being cleared behind them, and Chad and Gabriella smiled innocently at their parents, before Chad grabbed Gabriella's hand and the pair tried to run for it, only to find that Jake had a grip on Chad's arm as Lorraine had a grip on Gabriella's arm, each pulling the pouting teenagers back to the house and calling over their shoulders to the gang to ask their parents what had happened.**

**Sure enough, as each of them had gone home that night, and had asked their parents what had gone on, they were regaled with the tales of what Chad and Gabriella had done the previous day, each of them and their parents finding it highly amusing, each of the other families having a good laugh over how hyperactive Chad and Gabriella's antics could end up when they were alone together.**

**The gang had had to wait until the following week when they returned to school to hear what had gone on from Chad and Gabriella's points of view, and even then it was only after the pair had been dropped of by Jake, one of their punishments being that neither were allowed to drive for a month, a long with not being allowed to see the gang outside of school, not being able to use the house phone and having their own taken away from them, not being allowed within two feet of the computer or the TV, not being allowed to read or play basketball respectively and having a mountain of chores to complete everyday, including repainting the front room which they had destroyed and putting all of the pictures back into unbroken frames, to replace the ones which had smashed, either during the paintball incident, or due to the boxes falling from the roof.**

**End Flashback**

"No way, not again, ever," Chad stated, folding his arms across his chest as she and Gabriella stared each other down.

"Well, I'm so bored right now I'll do anything," Ryan sighed, twirling himself round on the swinging chair as he headed towards the bed, "What did you have in mind Gabster?"

"Well, I was only gonna say that we could try and have wheelchair races in the corridors," Gabriella stated innocently, although her eyes told a completely different story, and the guys immediately grinned wickedly, as Troy scooped Gabriella up from her bed and deposited her in her own, unused wheelchair, before following the guys out of the door.

Half an hour later, it was team Troy and Gabriella versus team Chad and Ryan, team Jason and Zeke having been knocked out in one of the earlier rounds.

The two teams were at the top of the corridor; Gabriella and Ryan sat in the wheelchairs as Troy and Chad stood behind them, eagerly awaiting Zeke shouting the word 'Go'. They had been lucky, all of the doctors and nurses that had seen them racing had only laughed and shook their heads before wandering off, some had even placed bets on who was going to win, mainly on Troy and Gabriella, much to their delight.

Some patients had even come out of their rooms, and were watching the spectacle, just laughing at the sight of the six young people having a blast in the corridors, and generally enjoying it themselves, especially some of the children that had come down from the children's ward and were now begging their parents to let them try wheelchair racing some time.

Hearing Zeke yell, the two teams automatically took off at high speeds, Gabriella laughing the whole way, both teams neck and neck, until they came to a screeching halt in front of three pairs of feet, one a pair in high heeled pink shoes, the foot tapping in annoyance as the two occupants of the wheelchairs glanced up to see what their drivers were seeing. Three very irritated looking women.

Once back into Gabriella's room, the unusually contained Sharpay exploded, "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU LOT DOING?" She screeched, pushing Zeke's comforting hand away from her shoulder as he rejoined the group of guys now sat with Gabriella on her bed, each looking at the floor and away from the screeching Sharpay and the angry Kelsi and Taylor, "THIS IS A HOSPITAL FOR G-D'S SAKE! NOT A PLAYGROUND! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Sharpay roared on, not even bothering to wait for an answer to her first question.

"We were celebrating," Jason managed to squeak out, wincing as Kelsi hit him over the back of the head, and Sharpay's angry red face turned to him.

"WE'RE ALL GLAD THAT BOO IS FINALLY GETTING OUT OF HOSPITAL TOMORROW BUT THAT IS NO REASON TO BE HOLDING WHEELCHAIR RACES IN THE CORRIDORS OF A HOSPITAL," Sharpay screamed, her eyes scanning over the head of each of the guilty people.

"We weren't just celebrating Gabster's release from this hell hole, although that was part of it," Ryan grinned cockily as Troy and the other guys smirked slightly.

"What else is there to celebrate?" Taylor questioned, a lot calmer than Sharpay and also a lot calmer than the blonde haired girl.

"Can we tell them Gabby?" Zeke asked, turning towards the brunette who had her head buried in the crook of Troy's neck, still hating the sound of raised voices, and causing Sharpay to wince slightly when Troy turned an icy look on her for scaring Gabriella, but slowly she nodded, and a beam appeared on each guys face, as Troy gently placed a kiss to the top of her raven locks and she giggled softly, shuffling closer into him as he held her tightly.

"Well, you see girls, over the last month, we've been working with Gabster every time you left the room to do errands or something," Ryan grinned, trailing off as Chad picked up straight away.

"Yeah, and then yesterday, Briella made her biggest accomplishment to date! Chad beamed excitedly, "She took six steps all by herself!" Chad grinned even more at the flabbergasted expressions on the girls' faces, as he himself, a long with the other guys showed just in their smiles how proud they were of Gabriella for persevering and not giving up when she was obviously struggling.

"But…but…that's impossible," Kelsi stuttered out, wide eyed and staring straight at Gabriella who shuffled uncomfortably at being stared at by the three girls.

"It's true and we can prove it, can't we Gabs," Jason laughed softly, and Gabriella blushed slightly, looking nervous, before Troy bent down and whispered something in her ear that no one else could hear, pulling away and looking her directly in the eye as she started to nod, still slightly unsure. The guys immediately started to cheer, and Gabriella giggled softly as Chad picked her up from Troy's lap and he walked so that the pair were leaning against one wall, Troy following and pacing out six steps, the rest of the guys surrounding them, there for Gabriella, just in case she fell, and the girls sat on the bed, still not believing what they were seeing.

Chad had his arms wrapped securely around Gabriella as he saw that Troy was in place and smiled as he looked down at his little sister, "You ready, Briella?" he asked, his eyes locked on hers as he saw her uncertainty of walking in front of other people, not just the guys'. He watched as her eyes locked on his best friend's and Troy gave her a small nod before she glanced back up at Chad.

"More than ready," Gabriella stated, the guys' smiling at the confidence that oozed from her words.

Chad slowly let his hands drop from his little sister as Gabriella still clutched tightly onto Ryan's hand at the side, taking a minute to steady herself, before she gently released that as well, Ryan giving her hand one last squeeze for good luck as she did so.

She took another minute to steady herself before looking up, mocha brown eyes locking on the cerulean blue pair that she loved and trusted so much; she took her first step forward, watching only Troy the entire time.

The girls gasped in shock, unable to believe what they were seeing as Gabriella took yet another small, slow step forwards.

As she took her third step, the guys slowly started to retreat further back after receiving a signal from Troy, completely unknown to Gabriella, as she continued to slowly move forwards.

On her fifth step, Troy took a step backwards, causing Gabriella to look up and frown at him as she took her sixth step and he moved further back still, grinning at her in amusement as she took yet another step forwards.

As Gabriella took her ninth step, she suddenly couldn't take it anymore and stared back up at Troy, her eyes wide, "I can't do this, please Troy, I can't, I can't," Gabriella pleaded, and the guys immediately started to move towards her, however, when Troy sent them a sharp look, they instantaneously backed off, moving to stand next to their girlfriends', who were still sat on the bed.

"Gabriella can't is the one word that I never ever want to hear you say, you're the strongest person that I know Ella, for you, can't isn't an option, you might think that you can't do it, but I know for a fact that you can," Troy whispered sternly, his cerulean eyes locked onto her mocha ones, his expression now completely serious, the amusement gone from his features while hers was a mixture of pain and fury, as he watched Gabriella take another step towards him, as he took another one away from her.

A few more steps later, and once more Gabriella knew that she wasn't going to last, "Troy I really can't do this I really can't, please don't make me do anymore, please," Gabriella cried out, and Troy could see her chocolate eyes that were part of the centre of his world fill up with tears.

Troy closed his eyes and took one more step back, ready to give into her cries when he felt something cold hit his back and looked up to see that they had reached the other side of the room, Gabriella only being three steps away, and instantly, he locked his eyes with hers, "I know that you can do this Elle Belle, I believe in you, you can make it to me Ella, just believe in yourself," Troy muttered, his gaze never once leaving hers as she nodded lightly and continued to move forwards. Her eyes locked onto those cobalt ones that she cherished and depended on so much, and instinctively, Gabriella knew that everything would be fine, as long as she kept moving towards him.

Moments later, she collapsed into his arms and they both let out a sigh of relief at the feeling of having their significant other back in their arms as Troy wrapped his arms tightly around Gabriella and beamed at her achievements, each completely forgetting that their friends were still in the room. "I did it," she whispered quietly, turning her face up to meet his as her expression turned gleeful and he grinned back down at her before she buried her head into the crook of his neck and he lightly kissed the top of her head.

"I told you so," Troy whispered into her hair, smiling as he heard her giggle softly, "Look how far you've come," he muttered and she gasped when she saw that she had made it all of the way across the room, from the windows at one side, to the door where she and Troy were now standing.

She grinned and turned herself around to face him once more as his grip on her waist tightened to bring her closer to him and he bent down to gently capture her lips with his own as her hands snaked up around the back of his neck, playing with the ends of his hair, Troy gently sliding his tongue along her lower lip as she slowly opened her mouth and their tongues started to battle for dominance, until Gabriella felt something hit the back of her head and they quickly broke apart, turning around in confusion.

The gang were all still sat on the bed, the girls' now on their boyfriends' laps as everyone wore the same stunned looks, the girls' a little more so than the guys'. They were all drawn out of their shock however when the couple started to kiss, causing the guys' to look away in disgust as the girls' smiled sweetly, until Sharpay saw Troy's tongue enter Gabriella's mouth. "Eww guys, no tongue!" She screeched, grabbing Gabriella's pillow and launching it at the couple, watching as it bounced off of the petite brunettes head and they immediately broke apart from each other.

"And you yell at me for interrupting them," Chad muttered, staring out of the window as everyone else laughed and Sharpay threw him a dirty look.

Troy bent down to pick Gabriella up again, to carry her back to the bed, but looked at her in confusion when she brushed his hands away, "I want to do this, I can do this," She stated firmly, her determined eyes locked onto his love filled ones as he nodded, proud of her, before leaning over and kissing her softly on the lips as he pulled away, gently dropping his hands from her waist as one of her tiny hands clutched a hold of his larger one to steady herself, the whole gang sucking in a breath and she gently released his hand and started to move slowly towards the bed, Troy keeping a close eye on her the entire time as he stooped down to pick up the pillow which Sharpay had thrown and followed his fiancée to the bed, staying at least one step behind her at all times, ready to catch her if she fell, knowing that she was really testing herself and pushing her body to the limit today.

A bigger grin spread across his face though as he watched her fall safely into Ryan's arms, reaching her target as Ryan helped her to turn around in his arms and beam back at Troy, Ryan's arms securely around her in a protective brotherly way as the whole gang cheered and Gabriella laughed loudly.

One step at a time, that was all they could hope for, Troy realised, just one step at a time, slowly, but surely, Gabriella was healing, and she had come a long way in a month from not being able to take a single step to walking the entire distance of her hospital room, and back to the bed in one day.

**Well guys, that was Chapter 24, hope you liked it, please review and tell me what you thought about it, hopefully the next one should be up soon, if I can keep bribing my brother to let me use the internet in his room.**


	25. Chapter 25

Need You Now

**Need You Now**

**Hey guys, sorry that I haven't been able to update for so long, but my internet's still broken, so I'm still having to beg my brother to let me use his. Anyway, thanks for your reviews on the last chapter, and I hope you like this one, but I wont be able to update again until the 2nd or the 3rd of August because I'm going on holiday for two weeks tomorrow, anyway please read and review this chapter, hope you enjoy it!**

**Chapter 25**

"Finally!" Troy exclaimed as he slammed the front door shut to the girls apartment behind Sharpay and Zeke, locking it and turning towards Gabriella who was giggling on the sofa, "We're alone," He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows up and down suggestively at his fiancée, and chuckling as he heard a fresh peel of laughter escape from her heart shaped lips.

"Troy, you can't say that, it's their place just as much as it is mine and I'm sorry if I didn't feel like spending the night in yours and the guys apartment with that smell wafting around my head the whole time," Gabriella giggled, facing Troy as she lay on the sofa, still being told to rest as much as possible, although she had now been out of the hospital for a further three months and had restarted her classes at UCLA, one of the guys somehow magically appearing to walk her between her classes, usually Chad, Ryan or of course Troy.

"Are you insinuating that our apartment smells Miss Montez?" Troy asked, looking shocked as Gabriella merely nodded, still giggling as he crossed the room in only three strides, and Gabriella suddenly found herself pinned to the sofa, Troy straddling her waist as he tickled her mercilessly, and she started to laugh so hard that tears were rolling down her cheeks as she squirmed beneath Troy and he just laughed, continuing to tickle her.

"Tr-Tr-Troy s-st-st-stop, I wa-wa-was always tol-told n-not to l-l-lie," Gabriella gasped in between laughs, but Troy just raised his eyebrows at her and continued to tickle her beneath him, even as she rolled onto her front, still giggling and struggling.

"Uh-uh Miss Montez, there's no way you're getting away with that insult being thrown at our apartment," Troy laughed, as she rolled herself back over, eyes shining happily as they met his own twinkling ones, he momentarily pausing his fingers as he thought something over and gave Gabriella a minute to recollect her breath, "Mind you," his brow crinkled in thought and Gabriella eyed up his now still fingers that were still resting on her hips, "All of the other girls only promised to give the two of us this apartment tonight if the guys each hired hotel rooms and they didn't need to go within twenty feet of our apartment building," Troy frowned and sat back slightly, giving Gabriella the chance to push him quickly, so that he fell to the floor, before standing up and running off as fast as she could herself, still laughing as she turned around at the doorway, sticking her tongue out at the slightly dazed Troy on the floor before turning back around and racing down the hallway as she heard Troy's feet behind her.

Troy caught up to her in seconds and Gabriella's laughter reached a new height as Troy grabbed her waist, picking her up and spinning her round before throwing her over his shoulder, carrying her back into the front room as she kicked her legs and stuck her own hands into the back pockets of his jeans to keep her balance.

She was still laughing as Troy let her fall onto the sofa, before sitting down himself and flicking his hair out of his eyes, throwing her a grin as she crawled across the sofa towards him and snuggled into his lap, her head resting in the crook of his neck as she wrapped her arms around his torso and sighed contentedly, feeling his strong arms wrap tightly around her still fairly fragile body and pull her as close to him as humanly possible, planting a tender kiss to the top of her head as she smiled softly and buried her head tighter towards him, placing feather light kisses to his neck and grinning against it when she felt him vibrate with a laugh, before she pulled away and looked up at him, her eyes still sparkling as they caught on his twinkling sapphire ones.

"Well Elle-Belle, we finally have a whole night to ourselves, so what would you like to do?" Troy beamed at her cuteness as Gabriella's brow furrowed, her eyes half closing in concentration, holding up a finger to her mouth as she hummed and tried to decide on what to do.

"We can watch Chicago!" Gabriella squealed after a good five minutes, diving off of Troy's lap as he groaned and she pulled the DVD from the wrack, knowing exactly where it was kept.

"Oh man Ella when I asked what you wanted to do I did not mean watching Chicago, again…or any other musical for that matter, why couldn't you choose an action or at least a thriller?" Troy protested, desperate to not have to be subjected to the storyline of the jazz dancer/singer and the wannabe jazz dancer/singer getting thrown into prison for murder…again.

But Gabriella only pouted and turned to Troy with her big, sad eyes, who was trying desperately to stare at the ceiling, so that he could put his foot down and show his friends once and for all that Troy Bolton was not whipped, but Gabriella obviously had no intentions of making that even slightly easy for him.

"Please Troy, please, please, please, you know how much I love this movie, and we haven't watched it in ages," Gabriella pleaded, and Troy looked at her with raised eyebrows as she quickly backtracked, "Okay, okay, I know that I made you watch it last week but that's really not the point here, please can we watch it?" Gabriella begged once more, her puppy dog pout going through the full works as her bottom lip trembled, her curls fell slightly over her face and her eyes became big, round and sad, the one thing that Troy hated to see them, as she waved the front cover featuring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger and Richard Gere in his face.

Troy sighed, running his hands over his face as he figured that it was probably time to finally admit to himself that he was whipped, through and through, even if he had been denying it for nearly six years by this time, but to Troy, hearing Gabriella's excited squeal and giggle were enough to make being whipped worth it as she saw his slight nod, and he watched as she rushed over to the DVD player, before running into the kitchen and coming back through to place the bowl of sweets in his lap, before curling into his side and resting her head on his shoulder, pressing play to start the movie that troy knew she loved so much.

"I'll watch it Elle-Belle but I swear to G-d if word that I watched this or any other musical for that matter happens to find its way back to the guys I will never watch another movie with you again," Troy threatened, whispering huskily into Gabriella's ear and smiling when he felt her shiver and cuddle further into him.

"Yeah, yeah Bolton whatever, now shut up, the movie's starting," Gabriella muttered back, her eyes never once leaving the screen as both knew that Troy's threat was a completely empty one.

Troy just chuckled and prised the remote away from her hand as he gently squeezed her fingers with his own, holding her as close to him as possible, and gently breathing in her scent, as his eyes left the top of his fiancées head and found that the first number 'All that Jazz' was already nearing completion.

Just over half an hour away from the end of the film, halfway through Roxie Hart's trial, Troy could feel a pair of eyes burning into the bottom of his head, and looked down to see Gabriella's mocha brown eyes concentrated on him, her eyes filed with tears that made Troy instantly stop the film and drop the bowl of sweets to the ground before scooping Gabriella up into his arms, holding her tightly as her body began to shake with sobs, and Troy rested his own head on top of hers, occasionally whispering soothing words, or kissing the top of her head as Gabriella slowly started to calm down, before looking back up at him, biting her bottom lip, her eyes still wet with unshed tears.

"What's wrong baby girl?" Troy murmured, resting his forehead against Gabriella's as he held her gaze, neither daring to look away, each needing the strength that they knew they would find in the other.

"The court case Troy," Gabriella whispered so lowly that Troy had to strain himself just to hear her, but he did hear the break in her voice, "It's next week Troy, and I don't know if I can face him again, I can't do it, I just can't," Gabriella sobbed softly, the tears now streaming down her face as Troy gently kissed her tears away as they fell, before kissing her closed eyelids, and then her lips, affectionately.

"Baby girl, you can do this, it's like I told you when you were trying to walk again Gabriella, you can do this, I know you can Elle-Belle, as much as I wish that they didn't need you to be a key witness, but they do Ella, and hopefully, this scumbag will get what he deserved a hell of a long time ago and will be locked up forever and ever, finally, but for that, they need you Ella," Troy spoke softly, the loving tone evident in his voice, a long with how proud he was of his fiancée.

"But, but what if he doesn't get what he deserves Troy, what if he ends up free and comes after me again, I'm just so scared, I really just want him out of my life," Gabriella sobbed quietly, and Troy's heart was instantly filled with sorrow at how distressed the love of his life sounded.

"He will be out of your life Ella, make no mistake, between your evidence, and Mike's evidence, and even Joanie's evidence, I mean, I know that she was your worst enemy in high school, but she's also his niece, they are going to lock him up for good, there's no way that they couldn't, and even his lawyer doesn't believe that he didn't do it, there's endless amounts of information that will put Rick away, but your testimony will be the biggest piece, and I know that you can do it," Troy smiled softly, and kissed Gabriella's temple as she rested the side of her face against his.

"But what if I screw up?" Gabriella questioned, terror seeping through every word she spoke, "You know how much I hate being in front of people, what happens if I completely freeze up and Rick ends up walking, it would be all my fault!" Gabriella cried, the sensitive subject bringing out most of her weaker qualities as Troy closed his eyes momentarily, trying to think of a solution to her problem, before smiling and snapping them straight back open, turning Gabriella to face him when he knew he had the solution.

"That's an easy one baby girl, I'm going to be right there in that room, there is no way that I am letting you go through any of this alone, no way whatsoever, so what I want you to do is to just look at me, ignore your lawyer, ignore the judge, the jurors, the other people in the room, even ignore Rick, just look straight at me, just like that first time on stage at East High together, just like the first time we sang together, just like kindergarten," Troy whispered, watching Gabriella the whole time.

"Just like kindergarten," Gabriella breathed out quietly, her eyes fluttering closed before reopening to look straight back into Troy's as she nodded slightly.

"Besides," Troy grinned, "If Rick walks next week, which we all know he won't, you may have to come back to court," as he grinned again, Gabriella looked at him confused, and he chuckled slightly, kissing her lips gently before looking at her once more, "You don't really believe that Chad, Ryan, Zeke, Jason and I or the girls for that matter would ever let him walk out a free man do you?" Gabriella's mouth dropped and Troy chuckled again as she hit him over the shoulder, before giggling herself.

"Troy Bolton, don't even joke about that, I don't know what the hell I would do without you or any of the rest of the gang for that matter, but mainly you," Gabriella blushed slightly, and Troy grinned as he realised that he still had the same affect on Gabriella as he did in high school.

"Good Miss Montez, I wouldn't have it any other way," Troy beamed, his smile widening as he saw Gabriella desperately try to hide a yawn, "Nice try Ells, but you're going to bed, now, you look exhausted."

"I'm fine Troy really," Gabriella started to say but was cut off by another yawn as Troy laughed and picked her up, Gabriella's arms and legs instinctively wrapping around his neck and waist as Troy stood up, bending over only momentarily to turn off the DVD player and the TV, before carrying Gabriella into the bedroom, and depositing the already pyjama clad Gabriella onto the bed, stripping down to his boxers and climbing in beside her, pulling her tightly to him as he gently kissed her, feeing her arms snake up around his neck, both of them smiling into the kiss, and each deepening it at the same time.

Ten minutes later, they really were ready for sleep, and as the tiredness overcame her, Gabriella buried her head into Troy chest, gently kissing his chest as she moved so that her body fit perfectly against his, her arms snuggled up to his chest as Troy winded his around her waist, drawing her closer as he heard her humming the Abba song 'Dancing Queen', chuckling slightly, as he now knew all of the Abba songs off by heart, due to Gabriella's recent addiction after going to see Mamma Mia! with the girls.

"I love you Mr Bolton," Gabriella murmured into his chest, Troy feeling her eyes fluttering closed against his chest as he gently kissed the top of her head once more and the all important ring on her right hand flashed in the light from the streetlights, causing Troy to grin once more.

Bending his head slightly, he whispered into Gabriella's ear, "And I love you too future Mrs. Bolton." Each of the pair now realising that their June wedding was only eight months away, to the day…

**Well guys, that was Chapter 25, please tell me what you thought and I'll try to have the final two chapters of Need You Now out as soon as I can.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Need You Now**

**Hey guys, thanks for all of your reviews for the last chapter, and sorry that I haven't been able to update in so long, but hopefully the last chapter should be out in the next week, anyway for now, here's chapter 26, I hope you like it and please review!**

**Chapter 26**

Walking up the grey stone steps to the court house, the group of younger adults and older adults alike seemed oblivious to the pounding rain, the howling winds and the hustle and bustle of the busy building they were heading for, each of the gang and their parents wearing a deep frown which portrayed just how nervous they really were about the start of the court case.

All of them but one that is, Gabriella's face showed only a look of pure fear and dread, moreover Troy could feel himself physically wincing as he felt Gabriella shaking in terror, his arm wrapped securely around her petite waist, the two of them leading the way up to the court house.

Ten minutes later, they were all standing in the main foyer, waiting for the prosecutors to come and get them for the start of the case, Mike Montez having also now joined the group, each of them shuffling their feet nervously and Mike counting the ceiling panels as he tried not to look at his daughter, who he knew from a recent conversation with Jake Danforth still felt utterly betrayed by her biological father, and even in Mike's eyes, he couldn't blame her, but if it was the last thing he did, he was going to make peace with his daughter and be a part of her life, even if that was only a small part and not the father figure that he really should have been.

However, everyone's heads snapped up, their eyes locking on the engaged couple, as Gabriella turned around in Troy's arms sharply, shrugging him off, taking a few steps backwards, and staring at him for a few seconds before the tears started to roll down her cheeks, coming thick and fast, her breathing becoming erratic.

"Troy, I can't do this, I can't go in there and face him, I'm too weak for any of this," Gabriella sobbed, her voice getting louder and louder with each word as the gang and their parents, a long with Gabriella's biological father, looked on helplessly.

"Gabriella Anne Danforth-Montez, don't you ever dare let me here you say that you are weak, because in all honesty, you are the strongest person I know!" Troy said, astonishment weaving through his firm tone, as he could not believe the words that were tumbling from his girlfriends mouth. "Ella, you have been through more than anyone else I know, you managed to get through believing that your Father was dead, your Mother killing herself, being basically tortured by your Mother and her boyfriends repeatedly for six weeks, transferring schools G-d alone knows how many times, the joint funeral of your parents, being shot, having to pack up your family home because your parents were no longer there to live in it with you, learning to live and get used to a new family, high school in general, the return of your torturer, and somehow you've managed to survive nearly seven years of me, if that isn't strength Gabriella Danforth-Montez, then I for one don't know what is," Troy finished firmly, looking up at the group that surrounded them, who had all been visibly wincing during Troy's speech, realising just how bad things had become at certain points, but who all nodded in agreement with him now, as Gabriella fell against his chest, her tears instantly soaking through his shirt as she balled it up in her fists.

"Okay, you're right, I can do this," Gabriella whispered softly, looking Troy deeply in the eyes as she did so, and their own private conversation was held just from their shared looks, as Troy raised a hand to gently stroke the side of Gabriella's face, and gently brush the hair away from her face.

"I know that you can baby girl, I am so proud of you and everything that you have and are gonna accomplish, I love you so much Gabriella," Troy breathed out gently, his breath smelling minty on her face as she turned to look at him once more.

"I love you too Troy Bolton, forever and for always," she smiled softly at him as he dried up the last of her tears and the gang around them deliberately looked away, feeling uncomfortable about interrupting an obviously private moment between the pair.

"Forever and for always, babe, forever and for always," Troy smiled as he gently kissed the tip of her nose, causing Gabriella to burst into a fit of giggles as everyone else smiled, but she instantly stopped laughing when she turned her head to the side and saw her enemy from high school, the head cheerleader Joanie Kinswalla, the only one who had potentially any clue of what Gabriella had gone through with Rick, given that she was his niece, and he had taken his four and a half years away from Gabriella out on her, only much less violently then he ever was with Gabriella. The two young women nodded politely to each other, each offering the other a small piece of support, knowing that it was going to be brutally difficult for both of them on the witnesses stand that very day.

"We're ready for you now," A voice called out, and immediately Gabriella was snapped out of her daydream as she followed everyone else into the courtroom, and she, Mike Montez and Joanie all went to sit with the prosecutors.

Six and a half hours later, the case had taken four breaks, Rick had been held down for threatening to kill Joanie and Gabriella, Joanie had been walked out of the room in hysterics, and it was finally Gabriella's turn to give evidence, so, shaking like a leaf, she slowly pushed herself up away from the prosecutors table and made her way to the stand, feeling every eye in the room on her, and shuddering when she could hear a cruel laugh from behind her, belonging to the one person that scared her more than the monsters in the dark had when she was only a child.

Sitting in the stand, Gabriella's eyes whizzed around the room, desperate to find the pair that she needed to give her strength, but was only met with hard stares from everyone in the room, except for the gang and their parents, who each gave her reassuring smiles, and Rick, who smirked at her ruthlessly, leaning back in his chair, and eyeing her up, making Gabriella tremble again, before her eyes ultimately caught on the shining cobalt ones that she had been looking for, and locked on them, as Troy smiled encouragingly at her, and she smiled slightly back, still looking beyond petrified, as the prosecutor started to ask her questions, and her mind wandered back over all of the problems that Rick had caused her to live over the last five and three quarter years, including being terrified to leave the house when he was stalking her a year before she had even met him, making her try to give up or run from her friends twice, using her own parents against her, making her unable to trust someone for a long time after meeting them, being scared to go home at night in case he was there, almost failing her junior year at high school, always looking over her shoulder paranoid that someone was following her, living in fear that one day he would find her again, which only proved horrifyingly true, and the one that had taken the most toll on her, being terrified of Troy touching her or coming anywhere near her, although she had drawn her strength from him over the course of her Mother's death, her parents funeral and moving in with the Danforth's, after that, she shut down, frightened that he would try and hurt her, and often hiding from him behind Taylor and Sharpay, whimpering I fear, as they looked at him helplessly and Gabriella knew that those times had been hard for Troy too, seeing the terror in her eyes whenever he touched her had nearly killed him, and she knew that, it had nearly killed both of them over the two months before she finally started o relax around him and the other guys again, which was all courtesy of a talk that she had had with Lorraine Danforth, Lucille Bolton and Sharpay, who she would always be eternally grateful to for helping her to see the light, and essentially saving her relationship with Troy, as well as their lives.

Gabriella remained strong all throughout her testimony, telling the brutally honest truth, and watching as many people in the court room winced with her story of what Rick had done to her over the years, and of the pictures which she had taken each time that he had beaten her once more and had kept over the years, thankful now that she had had at least the brains to do that at the time.

However when the defence lawyer started to ask Gabriella questions, she started to tense up and the fear and anxiety reappeared, especially with the lawyer bringing up her Mother and her Father's roles in everything that had happened to her. Gabriella could literally feel her façade fading away as the lawyer rattled off more and more questions, and she shrank backwards into the chair, the trembling starting again as she started to feel like the same small, terrified child that she had really been in the September, four months after her sixteenth birthday, when Rick waltzed into her life, practically moving into the Montez's home right from the beginning, and taking away the friendships that she had established in the January of her sophomore year of high school, only months before, the love relationship with Troy only the March beforehand, and the friendships that she had eventually made with Sharpay and Ryan in the May, after the four months of battling against Sharpay and her little poodle Ryan, and loosing Troy to her only two weeks into the Summer that same year.

Her eyes once more scanned the crowded room, Rick still smirking back at her, the jurors each looking deep in thought, most other people looking at her with sympathy, the girls and their Mother's looking at her with worry, the guys and their Father's each glaring at the defence lawyer, each looking ready to murder him for doing this to Gabriella, their hands all clenched into fists and their teeth grinding. All but one that is. Gabriella's eyes locked once more onto Troy's and a sense of calmness overcame her as she started to become more confident again, although she could personally tell that Troy to was considering whether or not murder would become legal at this point for him, but for that short while, his attention was fully focused on Gabriella, and the couple just stared at each other for a matter of moments, before Gabriella turned back to the defence lawyer once more, a new found strength boiling n her blood as she answered with confidence once more, sure that she heard Troy whisper, "That's my girl," in relief when she had started to answer the questions once more.

Two days later, and they were all back in the room for the verdict, the jury having finally reached one only a few minutes before after three days of witnesses, videos and other evidence used to incriminate Rick, and it was clearly having an effect on Gabriella, she had barely eaten over the past few days, only eating when Troy spent a good two or more hours coaxing her, she had barely slept in two nights, just lying in her bed trembling as Troy, who was also kept awake, had his arms wrapped tightly around her as he stroked her hair, she hadn't said a word to anyone except for Troy outside of the court room, and that usual sparkle was gone from her eyes, along with her smile.

As the sentence was read out, the whole court room erupted into cheers and laughter, the judge smiling himself with relief as he made no move to calm everyone down, the gang and their parents all hugging each other and the prosecutor, most crying tears of relief as the defendant was led out of the court room, but Gabriella stayed sitting in her seat, a look of shock on her face as she stared forwards, before her lips curved slowly upwards, a smile breaking out on her face as the sentence rang out through her head.

A hundred and thirteen years, all to be served back to back, for his many dozens of crimes, to be served at a maximum security prison, no chance of bail for a hundred and thirteen years, no chance of an escape for a hundred and thirteen years, no chance at freedom for a hundred and thirteen years. He was finally out of her life for good.

Stepping out of the courthouse, the sun was finally shining once more, and Gabriella grinned as she lifted her face to the light, she finally felt free, free from the constraints that had kept her prisoner for the last six and three quarter years, free from Rick, and most of all, free from her fears.

Turning around, she smiled at the gang and their parents, hugging them all individually, before pulling away and smiling once more at them, "Thanks you guys, there's no way that I could have ever done this without you, thank you for always being there for me," Gabriella murmured sincerely, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Hey, no more crying, huh?" Sharpay grinned, pulling Gabriella in for another tight hug, "I think that we've all cried a few too many times over the past years, now we need to be happy and celebrate, cause he's never coming back!"

Gabriella laughed as she broke apart from Sharpay once more, her gleaming eyes meeting the shining ones that looked like mini oceans with the sun bouncing off of them, and launched herself at Troy, wrapping her legs around his waist as his arms found her waist, and her arms found his neck, fingers wrapping tightly into his hair as she pulled his lips to hers, both of their lips instantly parting, as their tongues started to dance together in a passion filled kiss.

Seeing this, the gang's eyes all widened as they turned away and started pointing out various landmarks to their parents from the top of the steps, the older adults only laughing at their children's pathetic attempts to keep them distracted, but stayed facing the other way anyway, well aware of what was going on behind them, given the way that similar scenes had played out over the years in which Troy and Gabriella had been dating, especially when all of the families had taken a vacation together during the gang's senior year of high school.

"It's over Troy, it's finally over," Gabriella beamed, as he placed her back on the ground, his arms still wrapped around her waist as her smile lit up her features more than the gang had seen them light up in over five years, since this mess had all begun the first time around, not including the year before when she was stalked by him.

"Yeah baby doll, it is," Troy grinned, pulling her close to him and smelling the coconut smell of her shampoo, before reaching down and kissing her softly, instantly being able to taste her strawberry scented lip gloss as they both smiled like idiots into the kiss…

**Well guys, I hope that you liked it! Please review and hopefully the last chapter will be out in a week or less depending on when I have the time to finish it.**


	27. Chapter 27

Need You Now

**Need You Now**

**Hey guys, thanks for all of your reviews on the last chapter, they really mean a lot to me, sorry for the hold on this chapter, it's taken longer to put up then I thought because I got sidetracked with reading Breaking Dawn, anyway, this is the last chapter of Need You Now, so please tell me what you thought of it, even if you've never reviewed before, I'd love to hear your thoughts, also, I have a new story out called Mistakes, so please give that a read and see what you think, anyway this chapter is dedicated to all of you who have already reviewed this story, you guys really help me to keep going, so for the last time, I hope that you enjoy reading this chapter!**

**Chapter 37**

**Eight months later…**

"Gabby, it's time," a voice said from the doorway, and Gabriella turned around to face her father of five and three quarter years Jake Danforth, with a smile that could light up the world.

"Really?" she asked giddily, her eyes shining brightly with happiness as she twirled around the room.

Jake Danforth chuckled at his adopted daughter, glad that his son had actually had the initiative to bring someone like Gabriella into the family's lives. Smiling once more as his daughter reminded him more and more of an excited four year old on Christmas morning (namely what Chad had been like, more hyperactive than you average four year old), he nodded his head and extended his arm to her, which she took gratefully, running one hand over her long dress, to smooth out any creases, with a slight frown.

"You look beautiful Sunshine," Jake smiled at her, and Gabriella looked back up at him, a nervous but joyful smile flitting across her delicate features as she did so.

"I just can't believe that it's finally happening Daddy, I mean after everything that we've been through," Gabriella grinned, a far away look encasing her features, as she thought of all her past memories, the good ones, the extraordinary ones, the bad ones and the horrific ones.

"Yes Gabby, I suppose you can't, you've been through more together in a few years than most people go through in their life time, but I've watched you and Troy from day one of dating, from those three antagonising months where you claimed to be 'best friends' and I think that he's proven time after time that he's willing to go to the ends of this Earth and further for you Sunshine," Jake grinned at Gabriella, who nodded softly, laughing when he put air quotes around 'best friends' and only now starting to get really nervous.

"Yeah, I just don't see why when he could have anyone who is a million times better than I am," Gabriella whispered softly, and at that moment, the door to the room that she and Jake were in swung open and there stood three very pissed off looking bridesmaids.

"Gabriella Anne Danforth-Montez, soon to be Bolton," Sharpay yelled, and Gabriella couldn't help but laugh a little at her frustrated looking friend, "Don't you ever dare let me hear you say something like that ever again!"

"Yeah Gabs!" Taylor chimed in, trying to calm Sharpay down slightly as she did so, "I mean that boy is completely crazy in love with you, and he's lucky as anything to have you as well."

"G, when you were gone last year, he fell apart, sure you're fortunate to have Troy, G, but personally I think that he believes that he's the blessed one to have someone like you, I don't think that he can still believe that you said yes to spending the rest of your life with him even now, on the day of your wedding," Kelsi smiled at her, and Gabriella's face was instantly made brighter as she grinned up at Jake, who nodded down to her, showing that he agreed with the girls, while thanking God that they had the perfect timing that they did, as he would have had no idea what to do about a Gabriella with cold feet.

It was then that Gabriella took the time to eye up her three best friends as her bridesmaids, each looked stunningly beautiful, clad in their burgundy bridesmaids dresses, which clung to their every curve, until they reached their waists where the a-line skirt flared out to their knees. The chiffon material was a halter neck style, with a scoop neckline and small pleats. Around their waists, matching burgundy sashes were tied into bows at the side. **(Picture in profile) **The outfits each topped of with silver heals as the three girls stood side by side, each of them taking in Gabriella's reactions as she eyed them up and down with a soft smile.

They each wore matching necklaces which Troy and Gabriella had bought them all only weeks earlier for their help in keeping the relationship together all of the years, often talking sense into Gabriella when she started to freak out that she wasn't good enough and Troy deserved better, the necklaces themselves were white gold, and dangled a small dangling piece attached to the chain, diamonds studding the individual pieces every so often. They all wore the same matching earrings as well, which they had all bought without Troy and Gabriella knowing after they found out where the necklaces had come from, and the earrings dangled, swaying slightly with each movement that one of them made, the diamonds catching the light occasionally.

On their wrists, each girl wore the bangle which their parents had given them all for their graduation only a month and a half or so previous, Gabriella herself also owning one, the white gold bangle was in two halves, and twisted around so that it was held together by a small band of diamonds.

Each of their hairs was pulled back gently at the side, showing of their radiant faces as the combs with the silver wiring topped with small red crystal hearts went perfectly with the dress, reflecting the brightness and love surrounding the day. **(Pictures of all of the jewellery and the hair combs are in my profile)**

"You guys look absolutely beautiful," Gabriella breathed out, opening her arms wide as they all stepped into them, giggling as they shared a four-way hug, and Gabriella could feel the tears already beginning to build up in her eyes.

"Awww, Gabs don't cry, you'll be in your perfect guys arms soon enough," Taylor grinned, as Sharpay and Kelsi snickered softly, Jake rolled his eyes, and Gabriella swatted her, laughing as she wiped at her eyes, careful of her make up.

"You look phenomenal, G," Kelsi beamed, unable to keep the smile from her face as everyone else in the room agreed with her, and then the sound of soft music echoed from outside.

"Well, that's our cue," Sharpay grinned, and each of the girls gave Gabriella a final hug, and a wish of good luck, before rushing to the door and grabbing their bouquets of white roses, Taylor flitting out first, followed by Kelsi, and lastly Sharpay, who turned around in the doorway and grinned back at Gabriella, "Knock 'em dead Boo," before she started her slow walk down the aisle, and Gabriella re-hooked her arm through Jake's.

Hearing the music stat to drift down the make shift aisle towards him, Troy turned away from the beautiful sight before him, the sun was just setting over the ocean, causing bright pinks, oranges and reds to light up the sky, the ocean sparkling beneath them, and he had to smile to himself, glad that a week after the court trial, he had managed to get Gabriella's dream wedding out of her, even if she had thought it silly at the time.

**Flashback**

**Troy and Gabriella were lying full length on the couch, only the two of them in the apartment again, as he tenderly ran his fingers through her hair, and she snuggled up to him in pleasure.**

"**Do you realise that it's just under eight months until you become Mrs Bolton?" Troy asked in a whisper, a grin covering his face as he tried not to break the soft, peaceful atmosphere that shrouded the room holding the two lovers.**

"**I know, I can't wait, but I'm gonna have to start planning the wedding soon," Gabriella grinned back, lifting her head from his chest momentarily so that he could see her twinkling eyes.**

"**Yeah, well I want you to plan whatever you want baby girl," Troy buried his face in her hair, "No expenses spared."**

"**No, Troy," Gabriella whispered looking down and pushing him gently away from her, "We have to be practical about this, we don't have the money at our disposal to go all out if we actually want to survive in the run up to and the aftermath of the wedding."**

**Troy instantly sat up and pulled her onto his lap, as he saw tears well up in her eyes, "Gabriella, this is our wedding day, screw practicality, this is our special day, and I don't know about you, but I'm only ever planning on having the one. Now what's your dream wedding?"**

"**It's stupid, it doesn't matter," Gabriella mumbled, turning her face from Troy's as he instantly cupped her cheek and looked straight into her eyes.**

"**Nothing you will ever say will be stupid, unless it's something about you not mattering, or about you not being strong enough to handle something," Troy mumbled sincerely, "And for future reference, if it matters to you, it matters."**

"**I don't know," she whispered quietly, her chin tilted downwards as Troy kept rubbing comforting circles on her arm, "It's just when I was about three years old, I saw a wedding on TV, and straight away, I knew that was what I wanted, that was what my special day should be like."**

"**What was it?" He muttered soothingly, placing a soft kiss to her temple as he eyes flickered closed at the contact.**

"**On a beach, in Hawaii at sunset, it was so beautiful, the sun was just setting over miles of ocean, and the colours were amazing, so bright and beautiful I all of the pictures, but we could never afford that Troy, we're just two college students," Gabriella whispered, feeling stupid for even mentioning it as she glanced down.**

"**A beach in Hawaii at sunset it is then," Troy grinned and Gabriella's head snapped up to look at him, her eyes wide, "And I think that we should stay in a five star hotel and have the reception there as well," Gabriella's eyes continued to get wider, and Troy laughed, planting a kiss to her forehead, "Didn't I ever tell you Ella? My Grandmother left me thousands that she told me to spend on a special girl when she comes along, well that's you, and if this is what my special girl wants, this is what my special girl will get, no expenses spared."**

**Gabriella looked at him for a second longer, trying to work out if he was joking or not, before launching herself at him, attacking his lips with her own, "Have I ever told you just how much I love you troy Bolton?" She asked softly, before attacking the chuckling Troy once more with her lips.**

**End Flashback**

Troy's soft chuckles at the memory however were instantly stopped when he saw Taylor start to glide gracefully down the aisle, the one he considered his older sister who he would go to for advice, usually about Gabriella, followed at the same slow pace by Kelsi and Sharpay, the two who he now considered as his younger sisters, and their love to annoy him constantly often proved that, however by the time that all three of them were out and walking steadily down the makeshift aisle, Troy's jaw was nearly touching the floor, and looking to his side, he could see that the other guys were in the same shocked position that he was in, they looked simply stunning.

The girls all looked even more striking than usual, and as they passed him, Taylor and Kelsi gave Troy reassuring smiles, Sharpay however smirked at him and whispered, "Good luck with this one, Bolton," before joining Taylor and Kelsi at the side, and waiting for the bridal march to start up as Troy looked at her in confusion, her smirk only growing as the familiar tune started to drift through the air.

Troy's head turned once more as the bridal march started, instantly seeing what Sharpay had meant, as he turned to look down the aisle, his breath caught in his throat, if he had thought that the girls had looked stunning, well then they had nothing on his wife to be. Gabriella appeared to be floating down the aisle with Jake, a vision of absolute beauty, an angel, his beauty, his angel, and after today, that would be forever.

Her dress was strapless, the pure white of it showing off Gabriella's caramel coloured skin, it clung perfectly to her curves until it reached her hips, where it became looser and trailed to the ground in a train length dress. The top part of the bodice was sectioned away from the rest of the chiffon dress by another length of the material wrapped around just under her chest, a small heart shaped crystal broach sitting in the middle of a small ribbon, seemingly holding the parts of chiffon together. **(Picture in profile)**

In her hands, she clutched a bouquet of vibrant red roses and dainty white lilies close to her, and Troy could see her hands shaking slightly. On her petite wrist, Troy could just make out a small silver bangle that was encrusted with what looked like diamonds and sapphires.

His eyes travelling back up his soon to be wife, Troy's eyes were drawn to her neckline which once more held a silver piece of jewellery encrusted with diamonds and sapphires in alternative places, the end of the necklace daggling tantalisingly towards his fiancées chest as Troy's eyes followed it, before snapping his head up to look over her face, taking in all of her delicate features, her beam lighting up the entire beach.

Gabriella's eyes were sparkling with undeniable happiness and her beam possibly widened as she caught her eyes on Troy's, his eyes glancing her over, and he was glad to see that she was wearing very little make up, only a little lip gloss, eye-liner, mascara and eye shadow. The top part of her hair was swept back away from her face and pulled into a half pony tail at the back, her long curls tumbling down her back to her waist as a sparkling tiara nestled onto the top of her head, a band with three taller curves huddled onto it, each one swamped with tiny crystals so that the silver band of the tiara had almost disappeared. Troy's smile grew even more when his gaze travelled to her ears, and in place of her usual studs, sat the pair, which Troy had bought her for her seventeenth birthday, just over five years ago now, large sapphires sat in white gold bands, with tiny diamonds settled into the corners. **(Pictures of all of the jewellery and the tiara are in my profile)**

"You look…beautiful doesn't even begin to describe it, you're amazing," Troy whispered to Gabriella in awe as Jake handed him Gabriella's hand, smiling at the young couple as he took his seat and they walked the final few steps together.

Gabriella blushed crimson, and smiled at Troy, "Thanks, you don't look so bad yourself," she muttered, and he grinned slightly as he turned to face the minister.

Both of them were now intently listening to the minister and the sound of the breaking waves along with the rest of the congregation, but neither could help the side long glance every now and again at their significant other, each turning away with a smirk on their faces whenever they caught the other looking, and each determined not to laugh first believing it impossible over how far they'd come in just six years.

"And now, I do believe that Troy and Gabriella have written their own vows," the minister smiled kindly at them, "So Troy if you can please start."

"Gabriella, from the first time I saw you up on that stage, I loved you, you were the most beautiful person that I had ever seen, and then when you started to sing, I was completely blown away. I loved you when you joined East High, and threw the entire school into turmoil, I loved watching you grow more confident with each passing day and I loved being your best friend through it all, of course, that was until Chad finally knocked some sense into me by hammering that damn basketball of his off of my head and got me to see that I loved you in more ways than as a best friend would. It killed me to see what was going on with you in our junior year of high school, and in this last year, but you proved yourself time and time again, and that's one of the things I love most about you, you're definitely no quitter Gabriella. Oh and to be clear, the way you make me feel still scares the living crap out of me, it has done since the moment I laid eyes on you, and I don't think that will ever go away, I love you Gabriella, through the good and the bad, now, forever and for always." By the time Troy was finished, there wasn't a dry eye in the house, including Gabriella's own, even if there had been laughter throughout his vows too, along with Chad yelling that Troy was welcome, before yelping in pain when Sharpay hit him.

Troy smiled gently at Gabriella and wiped away one of her tears, letting his hand caress her cheek momentarily, before turning to Chad, taking Gabriella's new wedding ring, a simple platinum silver ring, with three diamonds placed little widths apart on the front of the ring, the largest in the centre as Troy twisted the ring around **(picture in profile)** and looked back into Gabriella's eyes as she started on with her own vows, the ring now calling her his forever.

"Troy, I really don't believe that words can describe how I feel for you, you're my best friend, my confident, my saviour, my protector and most importantly, you're my soul mate. I still remember the torture it was being only your best friend, and the death threats that I would get on a daily basis to tell you how I really felt. When you asked me out that first time, I felt like I was on cloud nine, and if I'm honest, I still haven't come down from there, and I know that is because of who you are, and everything that you've done for me. You gave me a reason to live Troy, without you, I don't believe that I would have fought to live past the tender age of sixteen, but you gave me that reason to fight on and live my life to its fullest, and I will always be eternally grateful, as I know that you're always going to be by my side to help me get through the day, through the good times and the bad times, and I will always have you to turn to. I love you always Troy, through everything that we've been through and are going to go through in the future, now, forever and for always," Gabriella said her vows in a strong, melodic voice, and even Troy felt as though his heart was about to burst and he would cry with happiness as Gabriella turned to Sharpay, before turning back to him, beaming at him through her tears, and slipping his own new wedding ring on his finger, a thick white gold band with a smaller band of diamonds in the lower half, **(picture in profile)** branding him exactly as he wanted to be, forever hers.

Anyone's eyes that had dried up after Troy's vows had instantly started to water again with Gabriella's, and Troy couldn't help but pull her tightly to him, kissing her lovingly, everyone else trying not to laugh at the look of shock on the minister's face at the hands on couple that they all knew too well.

At the sound of a clearing throat, the couple stepped away from each other, blushing madly and desperately trying to ignore Chad and Jason's snickers from the side, each mentally threatening to kill them later at the reception.

The minister smiled back at the couple, a look of amusement dancing across his face, as he turned first to Troy, "Do you Troy Alexander Bolton take Gabriella Anne Danforth-Montez to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," Troy beamed, squeezing Gabriella's hand gently as she grinned back at him, a faint blush covering her cheeks as excitement and happiness danced in her eyes, the minister turning to face the Gabriella with his own smile.

"And do you Gabriella Anne Danforth-Montez take Troy Alexander Bolton to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do," Gabriella grinned, speaking loudly and boldly, all of her dreams coming true in the same afternoon.

"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife," The minister smiled at them once more as the three girls on the sidelines wiped helplessly at their eyes, along with Lucille Bolton and Lorraine Danforth, whilst the guys, Chad and Ryan especially, tried desperately to keep their tears at bay, and the rest of the congregation of about thirty people beamed up at the couple, "You may now kiss the bride…again," he added the last word under his breath, but those around him heard and laughed, even Troy and Gabriella, as she threw her arms around his neck and he threw his around her waist, drawing her tightly to him as they shared their first passionate kiss as man and wife, laughing joyfully as they broke away and he started to lead her back up the aisle, their friends and family cheering and whistling as they passed, making the couple laugh even more.

"Dude, you owe me fifty bucks," Chad sniffed to Ryan through his tears, as they watched the backs of the retreating couple, and almost instantly, the blonde boy handed him the money, as the girls watched on, rolling their eyes through their own tears and vowing to kill the guys later on for betting whether or not Troy and Gabriella would make it down the aisle that day.

Their reception was of course, held at the five star hotel that Troy had predicted, and it was held on the outdoor cliffs just outside of the hotel, the night stars now glimmering overhead as they all sat down to eat, Chad smirking as he tapped on his glass and saw Troy, Gabriella and the rest of the gang instantly pale as he stood up to make a speech.

"Obviously, we're all gathered here tonight for two very special people," Chad beamed at Troy and Gabriella, "The love that these two share I'm sure that you'll all agree is completely phenomenal, it is something which we all crave and search for our entire lives, and these two have helped three other couples, myself included in one of these couples to find this kind of love as well, but I don't think that anyone can ever challenge their love, they've stuck together from the first time of meeting, and they've been through more ups and downs, love filled times and heart breaking times than a lot of people will ever know about, but they're still together, and still madly in love with each other. I remember trying to help Troy pick out the right engagement ring way back in high school, now let me tell you, that was an adventure and a half," Chad grinned at Troy as he scowled back and Gabriella giggled quietly into her hand, "it was either this ring's too small, this one doesn't look right, it's not pretty enough for her, but we got there in the end, it only took several tantrums, a few stray basketballs, and a chase around the mall, but we got there," Chad grinned again, as Troy considered what might've hopefully been if he'd managed to catch up to Chad on that chase around the mall, when his murderous streak had reared its' ugly side, "And just in time too, because only two days later, Troy proposed to Briella, and now here we are. Now would you guys please get right on it and make me some nephews and nieces? Oh yeah, I almost forgot, Troy you hurt my little sister and I will personally kill you, best friend or not. Anyway, here's to Troy and Gabriella, the sweetest couple I know, and two people I think everyone should aspire to be like," Chad finished as laughter swept around the room, Taylor pulling the cackling Chad back into his chair as he took in Troy and Gabriella's crimson faces. Gabriella pushed her chair back gracefully and immediately tackled her brother into a hug, who laughed and hugged her tightly back, trying to ignore the threats she was whispering into his ear before she rejoined Troy.

Next it was Sharpay's turn to stand up and beam at the couple, "If it wasn't for these two, I don't know where the hell I'd be right now, they saved me from myself and from I'm sure lots of others that wanted me dead. But through watching Troy and Gabriella's love shape and take form over the years, I have genuinely been made into a better person for it. Their love touches us all, it melts your heart to see them together, and it brings out the best in everybody they are the most in love, devoted and protective pair that I know I will ever know, one of the best parts about them is that they share their love with the others around them, they don't try to hide it away from the world or other people. Like Chad said, they've been through many ups and downs together, but if anything, that's made them stronger, more united. I may have been against them at first, but believe me, that is another trial that they went through that has only made them stronger as a couple and more connected than ever before, if they can get through me, they can get through anything together," Laughter once more danced around the covered area as Sharpay turned and waked between Troy and Gabriella, bending down so that she could hug both of them, "I love you guys," she whispered, before standing back up and raising her glass, "To Troy and Gabriella," everyone instantly repeated after her and then drank whatever they were holding, joy and merriment rippling in the air as the DJ returned.

"I would now like to ask the new Mr. and Mrs. Bolton to come up onto the dance floor for their first dance, a song written by the new Mrs. Bolton herself, called 'I Need You'," Gabriella blushed slightly as Troy stood up and held his hand out to her, which she gladly accepted, as he pulled her to the dance floor and the lights dimmed, a single spotlight on the pair as the DJ started up the music, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Troy Alexander Bolton."

_I don't need a lot of things  
I can get by with nothing  
Of all the blessings life can bring  
I've always needed something  
But I've got all I want  
When it comes to loving you  
You're my only reason  
You're my only truth_

Troy pulled Gabriella as close to him as humanely possible as she rested her head on his shoulder, with her arms wrapped tightly up around his neck, while his were wrapped securely around her waist, and he planted a kiss to the top of her head, smiling when he heard her sigh of contentment._  
_

_  
I need you like water  
Like breath, like rain  
I need you like mercy  
From heaven's gate  
There's a freedom in your arms  
That carries me through  
I need you_

_You're the hope that moves me  
To courage again  
You're the love that rescues me  
When the cold winds, rage  
And it's so amazing  
'Cause that's just how you are  
And I can't turn back now  
'Cause you've brought me too far_

By the end of the second verse, the gang had all pulled their significant others onto the dance floor, even Ryan with his girlfriend of six and a half months Melissa were dancing peacefully in each other's company, well aware that there were only their friends and family watching them as their bliss reached newly found heights._  
_

_  
I need you like water  
Like breath, like rain  
I need you like mercy  
From heaven's gate  
There's a freedom in your arms  
That carries me through  
I need you  
Oh yes I do_

Gabriella thought back over the time when she'd written this song, and how she knew now that if she had actually asked him to be and told him what was going on in the first place, Troy would have been there and stuck through her side from the beginning, giving her no reason to write this song. But on the other hand, Sharpay had also been right, all of the trials and tribulations that they had been through as a couple had brought them closer together, and only made their connection even more indestructible.

Gabriella sighed softly and buried her head deeper into Troy's shoulder, her lips curving up into a smile when she felt his lips against the top of her head again, before he rested his head on top of hers, each contented to finally be safe in the other's arms._  
_

_  
I need you like water  
Like breath, like rain  
I need you like mercy  
From heaven's gate  
There's a freedom in your arms  
And it carries me through  
I need you  
Oh yes I do  
I need you  
ahh I need you_

As the song drifted to an end, Troy gently lifted Gabriella's chin up from her shoulder and pulled her into a passionate kiss, as the people swamped around them once more clapped and cheered for the couple they all adored so much.

A few hours later, Gabriella smiled down at the party below her, watching from the lobby's balcony of the five star hotel that they were all staying in, as her friends and family danced the night away at her reception below.

Breathing deeply in the smell of the salt air radiating from the beach just in front of the hotel, where she had become Mrs. Troy Alexander Bolton only hours earlier, Gabriella smiled, and felt the tiny winds ruffle her dress as she thought back over the memories of the last few days, arriving in Hawaii, topping up her sun tan, spending a week relaxing among family and friends in preparation for her wedding, and then in two days time, they would all be returning to their various homes across the states, while she and Troy would be spending a further two weeks at the resort, for their honeymoon, before eventually returning home to join the gang in L.A.

Gabriella felt a presence behind her and turned her head slightly to see her new husband leaning on the doorframe to the open balcony, eyeing her up and down in enchantment, before striding to her and wrapping his arms compactly around her, grinning when she gave a slight purr of delight, turning away from him once more to watch the party below, so that he could rest his head on her shoulder and kiss her neck tenderly every once in a while.

"Elle, what are you doing up here, the party's all down there," Troy Bolton grinned at the new Mrs. Bolton, chuckling slightly when he felt her jump at the sound of his voice.

Chuckling again as she turned around and wrapped her arms securely around his neck, Troy kissed Gabriella softly on the lips, still unable to believe that she was his, and that she was going to be his forever and ever and ever.

"Troy," she whispered delicately, and he looked at her, noticing a slight hint of fear in her eyes, which made his stomach start to instantaneously churn, "I need to tell you something, but will you promise that you won't get mad?"

Troy nodded his head swiftly, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her tightly to him as he looked her dead in the eye, "Anything Gabriella, absolutely anything, and I could never be mad at you," he smiled at her, and noticing how sincere he looked, dropping an affectionate kiss to her forehead, and she couldn't help but smile back slightly.

What Gabriella muttered next made Troy's head spin and his eyes dance with happiness, as his sapphire orbs connected with her chocolate ones, breaking out into a grin as he picked her up and spun her around, each of them laughing and each of them finally knowing that the future would be dazzling as Gabriella's words rang through their heads, "I'm pregnant…"

**Well guys, that is the end, I hope you enjoyed it, the song was 'I Need You' by Leann Rimes, and please review one last time. Also, my new story Mistakes is up now, so please check it out and tell me what you think of that too.**


	28. Authors note

**Hey guys, I'm considering doing a collection of oneshots which relate to this story, to do with the smaller events, such as Troy and Chad searching for Gabriella's perfect engagement ring, Gabriella helping Chad to find Taylor's, Troy and Gabriella dropping the water balloon on Sharpay's head, and also doing the stories behind the many photographs that were in the story, like the one with the girls' sleepover. Please review and tell me whether or not you would be interested in reading any of these.**


	29. Oneshot Collection

**Hey guys, thanks for all of you that said that you would be interested in reading the oneshots, anyway, the first one has been posted, they're under the title Memories, so please check them out and tell me what you think!**


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